• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, September 30, 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 Headlines

Novel type of cell death in Huntington’s disease may lead to effective new therapies

Bioengineer.org by Bioengineer.org
January 31, 2018
in Headlines, Health, Science News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: Department of Neuropathology,Medical Research Institute

Researchers centered at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) identify novel type of cell death in Huntington's disease that may uncover new treatments.

Tokyo – In Huntington's disease (HD), the huntingtin gene is mutated, causing progressive neuronal death. This leads to defects in movement, behavior, and cognitive ability. Apoptosis, autophagy, and necrosis are the three main types of cell death, but researchers have not yet been able to determine what type of cell death causes neurodegeneration in the brain of HD patients.

In a new study, Tokyo Medical and Dental University-led researchers examined the nature of cell death in HD using newly developed imaging techniques. The effects of mutant huntingtin in neuronal cells were visualized by live cell imaging. With this approach, the authors identified a novel type of cell death associated with mutant huntingtin, which they called ballooning cell death (BCD). These cells gradually expanded like a balloon, until they ruptured.

To characterize the specific nature of BCD, the authors examined different cellular organelles by live cell imaging. "The endoplasmic reticulum was the main origin of ballooning," study first author Ying Mao explains. "Rupture of the endoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol was followed by gradual cell body ballooning, nuclear shrinkage, and cell rupture."

The authors observed the same phenomena in vivo using two-photon endoplasmic reticulum imaging in a HD mouse model.

Pharmacological inhibitors and genetic interventions showed that BCD was not like apoptosis or autophagy. "We noticed multiple similarities between BCD and a unique form of necrosis called TRIAD, which is caused by inhibition of RNA polymerase II in neurons," corresponding author Hitoshi Okazawa explains. "Based on our existing knowledge of how TRIAD is regulated, we were able to show that BCD is mediated by impaired TEAD/YAP transcription."

These revelations provided the opportunity to test potential therapeutic targets for HD. The researchers introduced S1P and up-regulated TEAD/YAP transcription in HD mice. This stabilized endoplasmic reticulum and completely stopped the decline of motor function, suggesting that targeting TEAD/YAP-dependent necrosis may lead to development of effective therapies for HD.

###

The article "Targeting TEAD/YAP-transcription-dependent necrosis, TRIAD, ameliorates Huntington's disease pathology" was published in Human Molecular Genetics at doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddw303

Media Contact

Hitoshi Okazawa
[email protected]

http://www.tmd.ac.jp/english/

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Newly Launched BIRDBASE Dataset Monitors Ecological Traits of 11,000 Bird Species

September 30, 2025

Pellino Ubiquitin Ligases: Dual Roles in Blood Cancers

September 30, 2025

WGCNA and ceRNA Illuminate Bovine Fat Deposition

September 30, 2025

Revolutionizing Drug Repositioning with Multi-Hop Graphs

September 30, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    87 shares
    Share 35 Tweet 22
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    73 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • How Donor Human Milk Storage Impacts Gut Health in Preemies

    59 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Scientists Discover and Synthesize Active Compound in Magic Mushrooms Again

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14

About

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

Follow us

Recent News

Newly Launched BIRDBASE Dataset Monitors Ecological Traits of 11,000 Bird Species

Pellino Ubiquitin Ligases: Dual Roles in Blood Cancers

WGCNA and ceRNA Illuminate Bovine Fat Deposition

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 60 other subscribers
  • 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.