New Huntington’s Treatment Prevents Protein Aggregation in Mice - News Center

Patients with Huntington’s disease have a genetic mutation that triggers proteins to misfold and clump together in the brain. These clumps interfere with cell function and eventually lead to cell death. The new treatment leverages peptide-brush polymers, which act as a shield to prevent proteins from binding to one another. The polymer backbone is shown in yellow. Active peptides are blue and green. Credit: Nathan Gianneschi/Northwestern University

New Huntington’s Treatment Prevents Protein Aggregation in Mice

In research published in Science Advances, scientists at Northwestern and Case Western Reserve universities have developed the first polymer-based therapeutic for Huntington’s disease, an incurable, debilitating illness that causes nerve cells to break down in the brain.