Huntington’s Disease News and Research

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New way of understanding neurodegeneration may lead to novel treatments

University of Adelaide researchers have developed a new theory for the causes of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, involving an out-of-control immune system.

13 May 2016

Key gene changes reveal four previously unknown conditions within schizophrenia

Changes in key genes clearly define four previously unknown conditions within the umbrella diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center published online April 28 in EBioMedicine, a Lancet journal. Cases associated with changes in each of the four genes were different from each other in terms of symptoms, intelligence level and other disease features.

29 Apr 2016

Innovative strategy can reverse symptoms in neurodegenerative diseases

Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are the two most common neurodegenerative disorders worldwide and cause untold suffering to millions of patients and their families. Treatments for these diseases are limited, and no cures exist. Now, a new study describes an innovative strategy that reverses symptoms in these neurodegenerative diseases - at least in fruit flies which had been genetically altered to model the diseases.

26 Apr 2016

University of Leicester-led study finds way to reverse symptoms of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

A five-year study by an international team led from the University of Leicester has found a way of ‘reversing’ symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – using fruit flies as test subjects.

26 Apr 2016

Scientists discover CD2AP protein that plays key role in nervous system

University of Louisville researchers have discovered that a protein previously known for its role in kidney function also plays a significant role in the nervous system. In an article featured in the April 13 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, they show that the adaptor protein CD2AP is a key player in a type of neural growth known as collateral sprouting.

21 Apr 2016

Irvine neurobiologists find new way to change damaging course of Huntington disease

A study appearing April 14 in the journal Neuron suggests there may be a new way to change the damaging course of Huntington disease.

18 Apr 2016

Glial cells can modulate specific nerve endings in the brain, find Rockefeller scientists

More than half of our brains are made up of glial cells, which wrap around nerve fibers and insulate them--similarly to how the plastic casing of an electric cable insulates the copper wire within--allowing electrical and chemical impulses to travel faster.

12 Apr 2016

Rockefeller scientists study molecular mechanism that causes linker cell death in worms

Some cells are meant to live, and some are meant to die. The linker cell of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm that is a favored model organism for biologists, is among those destined for termination.

11 Apr 2016

Commonly used fungicides could cause gene expression changes in brain cells

Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have found a class of commonly used fungicides that produce gene expression changes similar to those in people with autism and neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease.

31 Mar 2016

Findings offer novel way for creating drugs to stop mitochondria from destroying cells during stress

Malfunctioning mitochondria — the power plants in cells — are behind the damage caused by strokes, heart attacks, and neurodegenerative diseases, but little has been known about how to stop these reactors from melting down, destroying cells and tissue. Mitochondria also take up calcium, which regulates energy production.

11 Mar 2016

Researchers find way to boost the body's natural cancer-killing cells

The immune cells, called natural killer cells, hunt and destroy foreign cells in the body, including cancer cells that spread and form tumours.

27 Feb 2016

New drug shows promise against Huntington's disease

A drug that would be the first to target the cause of Huntington's disease (HD) is effective and safe when tested in mice and monkeys, according to data released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.

27 Feb 2016

Huntington Hospital receives Healthgrades 2016 America's 50 Best Hospitals Award

Today, Huntington Hospital announced that it has received the Healthgrades 2016 America's 50 Best Hospitals Award™. The distinction makes Huntington Hospital one of the top 1% of more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide for its consistent, year-over-year superior clinical performance as measured by Healthgrades, the leading online resource for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

25 Feb 2016

Revealing dynamic protein complexes with NMR: an interview with Elisar Barbar

Most proteins are involved in interactions with one or a few functional ligands, but some proteins, like light chain 8 (LC8), have numerous binding partners. LC8 interacts with more than 100 functionally different proteins, from viral proteins to motor proteins to proteins involved in cell division.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 18 Feb 2016

Synthetic RNA and DNA could reverse protein deficiency that causes Friedreich's ataxia

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified synthetic RNA and DNA that reverses the protein deficiency causing Friedreich's ataxia, a neurological disease for which there is currently no cure.

17 Feb 2016

MemorialCare partners with Fresenius Medical Care to operate 15 dialysis clinics in Southern California

MemorialCare Health System announced today that it has entered into a joint venture partnership with Fresenius Medical Care North America to operate 15 dialysis clinics in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Thirteen of these clinics are fully operational and two additional clinics are being developed in San Juan Capistrano and Huntington Beach.

17 Feb 2016

Innovative tool helps observe protein aggregates linked to neurodegenerative diseases

For rent: 32 individual rooms for a combined surface area of 4cm2, heating and food included! Biologists and microfluidics specialists at EPFL have joined forces and developed a highly innovative research tool: a 2cm by 2cm 'chip' with 32 independent compartments, each of which is designed to hold a nematode - a widely used worm in the research world. The device is described in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration.

16 Feb 2016

Sonablate HIFU now available in southern California for treatment of prostate cancer patients

HIFU Prostate Services, LLC, a leading provider of minimally-invasive prostate cancer treatment using high intensity focused ultrasound, announces that Sonablate HIFU is now available in southern California through a partnership established with Western States HIFU and Pacific Coast Urology and one of the most experienced HIFU physicians in the world, Robert Pugach, MD.

16 Feb 2016

TSRI scientists receive $1.7 million NIH grant to find new target for treating Huntington's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have won nearly $1.7 million from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to investigate the mechanisms that contribute to Huntington's disease, a fatal inherited disease that some have described as having ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's--at the same time.

12 Feb 2016

Lamin nucleoskeleton disordered in Alzheimer's

Brain cell death in Alzheimer's disease is linked to disruption of a skeleton that surrounds the nucleus of the cells, a researcher in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio said.

5 Feb 2016