US team identify Huntington's disease protein:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Medical School have identified a protein involved in the development of Huntington's disease. They claim the protein, HAP-1, interacts with huntingtin, the protein product of the Huntington's disease gene which was identified in 1993. HAP-1 binds to normal huntingtin, but binds even more strongly to the disease-causing mutated huntingtin. Commenting in Nature (November 23rd), the team believes the tighter binding may change the way the proteins function leading to neuronal death.