New key to the treatment of Huntington's disease

However, a growing body of research, including a new study published in the journal Cell Reports, suggests that the disease may also stem from defects in the glia, which are found in the brain important supporting cells

Years of research in the laboratory of neurologist Steve Goldman, PhD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), have shown that two populations of glial cells found in the brain -- astrocytes and oligodendrocytes -- — is dysfunctional in Huntington's disease and may trigger many of the neuronal pathologies seen in the disease

"Huntington's disease is a complex disease that affects neurons and supporting cells

The new study focused on oligodendrocytes and determined how repression of a specific transcriptional gene, Tcf7l2, triggers a series of changes that impair the function of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs)

A sister paper from Goldman's lab, published last year in Cell Reports, examines how a genetic defect at the heart of the disease affects the development and function of astrocytes, the cells called astrocytes.

The researchers believe the findings could bring new treatments within reach

Abdellatif Benraiss, John N.