Huntington Disease Discovery Provides New Hope For Treatment

Huntington’s disease is a genetic disease with no cure, characterized by a steady decline in motor control and the dysfunction and death of brain cells. The cause of the disease has long baffled scientists.

Symptoms tend to first appear when the person is in their thirties or forties. The most common symptom is jerky movements of the arms and legs. A person with Huntington’s disease may also have difficulties with speech, swallowing and concentration.

Using state of the art technology, Dr Danny Hatters and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Bio 21 Institute observed how human mutant ‘huntingtin’ proteins form into large clumps, which kills brain cells and leads to progressed Huntington’s disease.

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