• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

How mutations lead to neurodegenerative disease

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 13, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Scientists have discovered how mutations in DNA can cause neurodegenerative disease. The discovery is an important step towards better treatment to slow the progression or delay onset in a range of incurable diseases such as Huntington’s and motor neurone disease – possibly through the use, in new ways, of existing anti-inflammatory drugs.

The team of scientists has shown experimentally, for the first time, how mutations ultimately set off an anti-viral like inflammatory response in cells that leads to cell death and, over time, progressive neurological damage.

Led by the University of Adelaide, the study published in Human Molecular Genetics is the culmination of over a decade of research with researchers at the Victor Chang Research Institute in Sydney, seeking to understand how DNA mutations result in neurological damage.

This study investigates the outcomes of a mutation linked to Huntington’s disease and 20 other neurodegenerative diseases, including some forms of motor neurone disease. But it also may have implications for the progression of neurodegenerative diseases which aren’t necessarily inherited, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which evidence suggests are caused by a similar inflammatory response to environmental triggers.

“Together these conditions affect millions of families worldwide, and there are no cures or effective treatments,” says project leader Rob Richards, Professor of Genetics in the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences.

“If the new mechanism we have discovered proves to be correct, it will transform the field, providing a different way of thinking about these diseases and offering new opportunities for medical intervention.”

The so-called ‘DNA repeat diseases’ – named because of the repeat sequences found in the DNA of patients – share many common features in their symptoms, but the mechanisms by which symptoms arise have previously been thought to be different for each.

“We’ve known what mutations are involved for some years, and the set of outcomes that result, but, until now, we’ve not known how one leads to the other. This new research shows us how each of these diseases can be caused by the same underlying cellular pathway.”

The study results centre around RNA, the molecule in our cells which is the intermediate step between the DNA in chromosomes and the proteins that are the cells’ main functional components.

The DNA provides a blueprint for producing RNA that is then normally ‘bar-coded’ to ensure cells recognise it as “self”, distinguishing it from the RNA of a foreign invader, such as viruses. Using the experimental model fly Drosophila, Professor Richards and his team showed that the affected, ‘double-stranded RNA’ was instead recognised as foreign to the body, or “non-self”.

“This elicits an anti-viral like, auto-inflammatory response that leads to neuronal destruction and death, in time causing progressive neurological damage,” says Professor Richards. “The abnormal RNA is made from regions of repeated DNA sequences that are found in greater numbers in people affected with Huntington’s and some other neurodegenerative diseases.”

Professor Richards says there are existing drugs for other types of auto-inflammatory disease, which may prove to be effective in treating the symptoms of these diseases, by inhibiting the anti-viral inflammatory response.

###

Media Contact:

Professor Rob Richards, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide. Mobile: +61 (0)422 007 867, [email protected]

Robyn Mills, Media Officer, University of Adelaide. Phone: +61 (0)8 8313 6341, Mobile: +61 (0)410 689 084, [email protected]

Media Contact
Professor Rob Richards
[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddz096

Tags: AlzheimerCell BiologyGeneticsMedicine/Healthneurobiology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Exploring Wheat Heterosis Through Transcriptome Dynamics

September 2, 2025

New Tribe Identified in Tuberolachnini and Lachninae

September 2, 2025

Biochar from Prosopis farcta Boosts Quail Health, Neutralizes Aflatoxin

September 2, 2025

Chloroplast Genome Insights into Polygonatum Taxonomy

September 2, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    154 shares
    Share 62 Tweet 39
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    143 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    117 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 29
  • Do people and monkeys see colors the same way?

    112 shares
    Share 45 Tweet 28

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel vs. Real-World Therapy in Myeloma

Pan-Cancer Study Highlights ZNF132’s Role in Colorectal Cancer

Unlocking Amaryllidaceae: Hidden Chemistry and Biology

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.