Huntington’s Disease News and Research

RSS

Study provides insights into functions of astrocytes following brain injury or disease

Astrocytes have long been implicated in the pathology of a range of human neurodegenerative diseases or injuries including Alzheimer's, Huntington's Parkinson's disease, brain trauma and spinal cord injury.

3 Feb 2017

Both accelerator and brake in the brain control all types of movements, research shows

In order to drive a car, you need a good balance between accelerator and brake. The same applies to a part of the brain - the striatum - that controls our movements.

28 Jan 2017

Synthetic molecule appears to reverse Alzheimer's-related neurological damage

Under ordinary circumstances, the protein tau contributes to the normal, healthy functioning of brain neurons. In some people, though, it collects into toxic tangles that damage brain cells.

25 Jan 2017

Survey reports symptoms and treatments that impact lives of HD patients and caregivers

Huntington's disease (HD) has no cure and no therapies to slow the course of this fatal disease. HD patients can experience a wide range of cognitive, physical, and psychiatric symptoms.

24 Jan 2017

Researchers explore ins and outs of genome sequencing in newborns

When you have a baby, a nurse or a phlebotomist performs a heel stick to take a few drops of blood from your infant and sends it off to a state lab for a battery of tests.

19 Jan 2017

Research offers new clues to prolong lifespan of the body's disease-fighting NK cells

A team of researchers from Australia and France have uncovered new insights into how to prolong the lifespan of the body's disease-fighting natural killer (NK) cells.

17 Jan 2017

Protein aggregation may trigger inflammatory response linked to neurodegenerative diseases

A recent review article published online in The FASEB Journal points to the "trigger" for the inflammatory response, caused by the immune system, that precedes Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions.

11 Jan 2017

The 10th annual symposium at UC Riverside focuses on glial-neuronal interactions in health and disease

The brain is home to two kinds of cells: neurons and glia, with the latter protecting the former. Glia, the stuff between neurons, are important also because they regulate and define neuron-neuron communication.

9 Jan 2017

UNC Catalyst aims to provide knowledge and research tools to tackle rare diseases

Freely giving researchers the tools and knowledge to tackle rare and orphaned diseases is the mission of UNC Catalyst, a new endeavor the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched with a $2 million grant from the Eshelman Institute for Innovation.

5 Jan 2017

BUSM professor receives Ellison Foundation grant to explore new Parkinson's disease target

Richard Myers, PhD, professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, was recently awarded $100,000 from the Ellison Foundation for research to further study a Parkinson's disease (PD) target.

4 Jan 2017

New tool explains how proteins assemble into different liquid and gel-like solid states

A tool that uses light to manipulate matter inside living cells has begun to explain how proteins assemble into different liquid and gel-like solid states, a key to understanding many critical cellular operations.

30 Dec 2016

New findings about key cellular protein could lead to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

New details learned about a key cellular protein could lead to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

27 Dec 2016

Scientists discover link between Huntington's disease and dysfunction of subthalamic nucleus

Northwestern Medicine scientists identified a link between Huntington's disease and dysfunction of the subthalamic nucleus, a component of the basal ganglia, a group of brain structures critical for movement and impulse control.

21 Dec 2016

New study reveals IRBIT's role in facilitating apoptosis

Billions of cells in our bodies die every day in an important process called apoptosis. Now, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have mapped out a sequence of events that are necessary for apoptosis to occur properly.

21 Dec 2016

Tufts scientists discover reason for incidence of genetic error that causes many disorders

Tufts University researchers have discovered a possible explanation for the occurrence of a genetic error that causes over a dozen neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy and forms of spinocerebellar ataxia.

6 Dec 2016

Researchers use microbubbles and ultrasound to transport drugs across blood–brain barrier

The impassable blood-brain barrier prevents microorganisms from entering our brain, however it also blocks medicines that could help treat Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

30 Nov 2016

HD is myopathy as well as neurodegenerative disease, study suggests

Researchers have discovered that mice with Huntington's disease (HD) suffer defects in muscle maturation that may explain some symptoms of the disorder.

29 Nov 2016

TMDU researchers identify novel type of cell death in Huntington's disease

In Huntington's disease (HD), the huntingtin gene is mutated, causing progressive neuronal death.

22 Nov 2016

TSRI scientists discover precise signaling mechanisms that regulate brain’s motor function

In new findings that could have an impact the development of therapies for a number of currently untreatable brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found, for the first time, that a specific signaling circuit in the brain is deeply involved in motor activity.

17 Nov 2016

Rice University scientists uncover new clues to cause of Huntington's disease

Rice University scientists have uncovered new details about how a repeating nucleotide sequence in the gene for a mutant protein may trigger Huntington's and other neurological diseases.

11 Nov 2016