login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Huntington’s Disease: Protein Clusters Kill Brain Cells
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.
“Steps prior to the clustering of the mutated proteins were thought to damage cells, but these steps were not clearly detectable under a microscope,” Dr Hatters says.
“Understanding this process and finding the right target to block the ultimate death of the brain cells has been extremely difficult to determine,” he says.
The technology called analytical ultracentrifugation and the methodology the researchers developed enabled them to visualize this process in much greater detail.
“What we have shown and are the first to show, is that mutated huntingtin protein forms three different sized clusters in the damaged cells,” he says.
|
|
|
More News on: Parkinsons Disease, Parkinsons Disease Surgical Treatment, Protein Catabolic Rate, Brain, Brain Facts, Ataxia
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
 | Quiz on Brain Feeling bad, sad, silly or glad? Find out what is responsible by taking part in our brain quiz. 
|
- News Quick Links
 | News Central | | Health Watch | |
| Latest Health News | | Health In Focus | |
| News Category (500+) | | Breaking Health News | |
| Popular News | | Celebrating Life | |
| Health News and Press Release | | Medindia - Exclusive | |
| News Photo Gallery | | India Special | |
| News Video Gallery | | Lifestyle and Wellness | |
| News From Other Resources | |||
 |
Brain
Complete Medindia Resources
|
| News Categories: |
| » | Research: Bright Colored Chips can Cut Consumption by Half |
| » | Olympic Athlete's Body Via the 80-10-10 Raw Vegan Diet |
| » | Importance of Canned Foods To Help Tackle IOM Weight Of The Nation Recommendations, Highlights Study |
| » | US Rules Pomegranate Juice Claims Deceptive |
| » | Reducing Entrée Size Could Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Children |
| More Diet News | |
|
Research Related News |
||||||||
| » | New Drug That Only Attacks Cancer Cells Developed | » | Personality Traits Linked To Longevity in Centenarians | |||||
| » | Lack of Vitamin D in Diet Raises Stroke Risk in Japanese-Americans | » | Why Bovine TB Continues to Spread Demystified in New Research | |||||
| » | Seaweed Pill May Help Treat Arthritis | » | P. Aeruginosa Infection Leads to Worse Outcomes and Increased Hospitalizations in COPD Patients | |||||
| » | Hormone Boosts Production of Molecules Which Fight Skin Infection | » | Protein Discovery Could Lead To New Vaccine for Meningitis | |||||
| Read More >> | ||||||||
