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Neurodegenerative disease

Glial cells — friend and foe in Huntington disease?

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 12, pages 430–431 (2016)Cite this article

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Glial cells could be pivotal to both pathogenesis and treatment of Huntington disease (HD), new research reveals. In a study published in Nature Communications, Steven Goldman and colleagues found that an HD phenotype could be induced or ameliorated by manipulating the glial constitution of the mouse brain.

“We and others had noted that astrocytes, in particular, play a significant role in regulating neuronal firing thresholds, as well as in information processing, both of which are deficient in HD,” explains Goldman. “We therefore posed the following question: if we replaced diseased glia with healthy glia, could we rescue aspects of the HD phenotype or delay disease progression?”

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References

  1. Benraiss, A. et al. Human glia can both induce and rescue aspects of disease phenotype in Huntington disease. Nat. Commun. 7, 11758 (2016)

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  1. Heather Wood
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Wood, H. Glial cells — friend and foe in Huntington disease?. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 430–431 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.95

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