Prion disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis all share a common etiology: neurodegeneration linked to the misfolding and aggregation of a specific protein. But the causes of neuronal death in these diseases are still poorly understood, impeding the development of strategies to prevent neurodegeneration. To fill this knowledgeContinueContinue reading “Protecting neurons from misfolded prion proteins”
Tag Archives: Huntington’s disease
A block that slows neurodegeneration
Results presented by Lynn Raymond (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) at the 2014 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting held 25–28 May in Montreal show that blocking specific glutamate receptors in the brain improved motor learning and coordination and prevented cell death in a mouse model of Huntington disease. Huntington disease can be detected before any clinicalContinueContinue reading “A block that slows neurodegeneration”
A primate model for Huntington’s disease?
Huntington’s disease is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder. Rodent models of Huntington’s exist, but they do not reproduce the disease course and symptoms of affected humans very closely. This limits their applicability in evaluating the pathology and potential treatments for the disorder. Now, a group of scientists from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at EmoryContinueContinue reading “A primate model for Huntington’s disease?”
Fluent in Science 