Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Huntingtons Disease News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/huntingtons_disease/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169441.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169441.php Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models. "Gene therapy in these models successfully attenuated the symptoms of Huntington's disease and increased life span," notes Paul Patterson, the Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences. Huntingtons Disease Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168878.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168878.php Working like an architect, Prof. Hagit Eldar-Finkelman of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine is "building" a new drug, L803-MTS, to treat a number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases like Alzheimer's. In pre-clinical studies, it also shows promise against Parkinson's, Huntington's and diabetes. L803-MTS is based on the physical structure of the GSK3 protein, which plays a causative role in insulin resistance and Type II diabetes. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167365.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167365.php The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a "Grand Opportunity" grant of $3.7 million to a consortium formed with the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and the Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research to use stem cell technology to better understand Huntington's disease (HD) and to develop potential therapies. Huntingtons Disease Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165735.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165735.php Inhibiting the protein Hsp70 rapidly reduces brain levels of tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease when it builds up abnormally inside nerve cells affecting memory, neuroscientists at the University of South Florida found. The study is reported online today in the Journal of Neuroscience. Alzheimer's / Dementia Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165407.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165407.php Using clever chemistry, a Scripps Research team has pinpointed the enzyme target of a drug group that stops the progression of the devastating disease Friedreich's ataxia in mice and may do the same for humans. The findings, developed in collaboration with scientists from Repligen Corporation, help advance this treatment approach one step closer toward human clinical trials, which will be a welcome event for disease sufferers who currently have few treatment options. Neurology / Neuroscience Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159552.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159552.php Huntington's disease is an incurable, hereditary brain disorder. It is a devastating brain disorder for which there is no currently 'effective' treatment. Nerve cells become damaged, causing various parts of the brain to deteriorate. The disease affects movement, behavior and cognition - the affected individuals' abilities to walk, think, reason and talk are gradually eroded to such a point that they eventually become entirely reliant on other people for their care. Huntingtons Disease Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159544.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159544.php Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) announced the initiation of a Phase 3 trial of the investigational drug dimebon (latrepirdine) in patients with Huntington disease. The international safety and efficacy trial, known as HORIZON, is designed to evaluate the potential benefits of dimebon on cognition (thinking and memory) in patients with Huntington disease. The companies also announced that the U.S. Huntingtons Disease Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158589.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158589.php University of Utah School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center have found strong evidence that abnormal calcium signaling in neurons may play an important role in the development of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), a disorder causing progressive loss of coordination, speech difficulty, and abnormal eye movements. Their findings are published in the July 27, 2009 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158224.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158224.php The results of a recent study published in PNAS question the long-term effects of transplanted cells in the brains of patients suffering from Huntington's disease. This study, conducted jointly by Dr. Francesca Cicchetti of Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, Dr. Thomas B. Huntingtons Disease Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157470.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157470.php Researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and Graduate Center for Toxicology (GCT) have gained new insight into the genetic mechanisms underlying Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative or neuromuscular disorders caused by trinucleotide repeats (or TNRs) in DNA. The research, performed in the laboratory of Dr. Huntingtons Disease Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153834.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153834.php Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how the mutated huntingtin gene acts on the nervous system to create the devastation of Huntington's disease. The report of their findings is available in Nature Neuroscience online. Huntingtons Disease Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153685.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153685.php A research published on bmj.com reports that individuals with a family history of genetic disease are frequently discriminated by their relatives, friends and also by insurance companies. Many individuals have been able to adapt treatment and inform reproductive decisions thanks to the developments in genetic testing. Huntingtons Disease Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153344.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153344.php Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have quantified the probability of a male who carries a "high normal" variant of the Huntington's Disease (HD) gene having a child who develops the disease. Although thought to be a very rare event, the probability has never been estimated using current information and disease guidelines. The findings, appear on-line in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, may be useful during prenatal genetic counseling. Huntingtons Disease Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152675.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152675.php Johns Hopkins brain scientists have figured out why a faulty protein accumulates in cells everywhere in the bodies of people with Huntington's disease (HD), but only kills cells in the part of the brain that controls movement, causing negligible damage to tissues elsewhere. The answer, reported this week in Science, lies in one tiny protein called "Rhes" that's found only in the part of the brain that controls movement. Huntingtons Disease Thu, 21 May 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150873.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150873.php Florida Atlantic University researcher Dr. Jianning Wei, assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science at FAU, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further her research into the molecular mechanisms of Huntington's disease (HD). Named after American physician George Huntington, HD is a highly complex genetic, neurological disorder that causes certain nerve cells in the brain to waste away. Huntingtons Disease Wed, 20 May 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150713.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150713.php A new tool will help researchers identify the minute changes in DNA patterns that lead to cancer, Huntington's disease and a host of other genetic disorders. The tool was developed at North Carolina State University and translates DNA sequences into graphic images, which allows researchers to distinguish genetic patterns more quickly and efficiently than was historically possible using computers. David Cox, a Ph.D. Genetics Thu, 07 May 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149229.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149229.php A team led by researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has now pinpointed the exact gene responsible for a 2007 breakthrough in which mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease regained long-term memories and the ability to learn. Alzheimer's / Dementia Mon, 04 May 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148659.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/148659.php Molecules that selectively interfere with protein production can stop human cells from making the abnormal molecules that cause Huntington's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. These man-made molecules also were effective against the abnormal protein that causes Machado-Joseph disease, a neurological condition similar to Huntington's. Huntingtons Disease Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146860.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146860.php Researchers from the University of Southern California have taken an important first step toward protecting against Huntington disease using gene therapy. Huntington Disease is an incurable neurological disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional instability and loss of intellectual faculties. It affects about 30,000 people in the United States, and children of parents with the disease have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it themselves. Huntingtons Disease Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146781.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146781.php Researchers from the University of Southern California have taken an important first step toward protecting against Huntington disease using gene therapy. Huntington Disease is an incurable neurological disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional instability and loss of intellectual faculties. It affects about 30,000 people in the United States, and children of parents with the disease have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it themselves. Huntingtons Disease Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146498.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146498.php A global analysis of brain proteins over a 10-week period in a mouse model of Huntington Disease has revealed some new insights into this complex neurodegenerative disorder. For example, profound changes (comparable to those seen in late-stage HD) actually occur well before any disease symptoms show up, and most of the changes are confined to a specific stage during disease progression. Huntingtons Disease Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145930.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145930.php Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ:AMRN) announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has accepted for review the Company's Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for AMR101 (ultra-pure ethyl-EPA) in patients with Huntington's disease. Thomas Lynch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amarin, commented "We are pleased to have our EMEA filing for AMR101 in Huntington's disease accepted for review as it is a disorder of great unmet medical need. Huntingtons Disease Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145798.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145798.php Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have designed tiny RNA molecules that shut off the gene that causes Huntington's disease without damaging that gene's healthy counterpart, which maintains the health and vitality of neurons. Laboratory studies suggest that a single small interfering RNA could reduce production of the damaging Huntingtin protein in nearly half of people with the disease. Huntingtons Disease Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145016.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145016.php A new study has identified a potential strategy for removing the abnormal protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) from brain cells, which could slow the progression of the devastating neurological disorder. Huntingtons Disease Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144184.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144184.php The J. David Gladstone Institutes has joined forces with Taube Philanthropies and the Koret Foundation to initiate a groundbreaking research program aimed at preventing, treating, or curing Huntington's disease (HD) by the year 2020. The new Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research has been established at the Gladstone Center for Translational Research at Mission Bay, with $3.6 million in funding from the two organizations. Huntingtons Disease