UB researchers propose a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of Huntington’s disease
An article published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry presents a novel pharmacological target that, in combination with a neurotrophic factor, could be used to improve the survival of striatal neurons, the principal nerve cells affected by the neurodegeneration observed in Huntingtonʼs disease. The study was conducted by the researchers Silvia Ginés, a lecturer in the University of Barcelona; and Paola Paoletti, a doctoral student and Jordi Alberch professor with the Department of Cell Biology, Immunology and Neurosciences in the Faculty of Medicine in the UB.
An article published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry presents a novel pharmacological target that, in combination with a neurotrophic factor, could be used to improve the survival of striatal neurons, the principal nerve cells affected by the neurodegeneration observed in Huntingtonʼs disease. The study was conducted by the researchers Silvia Ginés, a lecturer in the University of Barcelona; and Paola Paoletti, a doctoral student and Jordi Alberch professor with the Department of Cell Biology, Immunology and Neurosciences in the Faculty of Medicine in the UB.
Huntingtonʼs chorea is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by a genetic mutation of the gene encoding for the protein Huntingtin. The disease principally affects the basal ganglia, which regulate motor control and other important functions. One of the most widely studied potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of Huntingtonʼs disease is the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), essential in the survival of striatal neurons and severely depleted in Huntingtonʼs sufferers. The researchers used an in vitro cell model to study whether the cells that express the mutated Huntingtin respond to administration of BDNF. “We concluded that treatment with BDNF is an effective therapeutic strategy for this disease, but that combined treatments are probably needed to modulate different aspects of the pathology”, explains the UB researcher Silvia Ginés, who is also a researcher for the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and the Networked Biomedical Research Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED).