Huntington’s disease (HD) is a cruel, hereditary condition that leads to severe physical and mental deterioration, psychiatric problems and eventually, death. Currently, there are no treatments to slow down or stop it. HD sufferers are born with the disease although they do not show symptoms until late in life. In a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Stephen Ferguson and Fabiola Ribeiro of Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario identified a protective pathway in the brain that may explain why HD symptoms take so long to appear…

Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX) announced the extension of its collaboration with CHDI Foundation, Inc. (CHDI) through to the end of 2012. The collaboration, which is aimed at finding new treatments for Huntington’s disease and represents one of the largest joint innovation drug discovery CNS alliances within Evotec, will provide Evotec with up to US$ 37.5 million in research funding over the next three years.

Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its partner, Siena Biotech S.p.A., has commenced Phase 1 clinical testing of Elixir’s potent, first-in-class SIRT1 (sirtuin-1) inhibitor for the treatment of Huntington’s Disease. EX-527, also known as SEN0014196, is currently in a Phase 1a combined single and multiple ascending dose study in the European Union to assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers…

Scientists have identified a key molecular switch that may drive the onset of Huntington’s disease (HD), an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that leads to severe disruptions in muscle coordination and cognitive function. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 24 issue of the journal Neuron, enhances the understanding of HD pathogenesis and may direct new strategies for treating this devastating brain disease.

The kinase IKK phosphorylates the protein mutated in Huntington’s disease to promote its removal and neuron survival, but IKK may be a double-edged sword that increases neurotoxicity in later stages of the disease. The study, led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, was published online December 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology. Huntington’s disease is caused by an expanded polyglutamine repeat in the protein Huntingtin (Htt), which causes the protein to aggregate and damage neurons…

The kinase IKK phosphorylates the protein mutated in Huntington’s disease to promote its removal and neuron survival, but IKK may be a double-edged sword that increases neurotoxicity in later stages of the disease. The study, led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, was published online December 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology. Huntington’s disease is caused by an expanded polyglutamine repeat in the protein Huntingtin (Htt), which causes the protein to aggregate and damage neurons..

The Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute is to provide stem cells to a five-member National Institutes of Health consortium of researchers for development of potential therapies to treat Huntington’s disease. As part of the $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, directed by Clive Svendsen, Ph.D., will supply scientists at five leading laboratories, including Cedars-Sinai, with all the adult stem cells used in the study…

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and the University of California, San Diego have found that normal synaptic activity in nerve cells (the electrical activity in the brain that allows

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.

Huntington’s disease is an incurable, hereditary brain disorder. It is a devastating brain disorder for which there is no currently ‘effective’ treatment.