There may be new hope for those suffering from a fatal brain disorder called Huntingtons Disease. Recent research at Emory University, using a groundbreaking gene editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9, has provided new insight into how the disease works, and possible ways to reverse its cruelest effects.

Huntingtons Disease is a genetically inherited condition that leads to nerve cell destruction in the brain. Symptoms, which usually appear in mid-life, include uncontrolled muscle movement, balance issues, mood swings and cognitive decline. Though rates and recording vary from country to country, approximately 30,000 in the U.S. currently suffer from the disease.

While there is no known cure for Huntingtons, a recent study by Chinese scientists at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia is showing promise. Early results suggest possible treatments for the disease and a path to preventing its occurrence in the first place.

The research is part of an ongoing medical collaboration between the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Under this program, both the U.S. and China contribute funds and scientists for research in both countries.

Emory School of Medicine

Using the revolutionary gene editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9, researchers at Emory were able to reverse the effects of Huntingtons in test mice.The mice had been genetically modified to carry a human version of the hungtingtin gene that causes the disease. While considered essential for nervous system development in early life, a mutated huntingtin gene can also produce toxic proteins that cause neural generation.

After nine months, when the mice developed the animal version of Huntingtons Disease, researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to replace the mutant gene with a normal one and then reintroduce the repaired DNA into mice.

Weeks after treatment, the brain-damaging proteins had almost disappeared and motor functions of the mice dramatically improvedthough not to the same level in healthy control mice in which Huntingtons hadnt been induced.

While the results show promise for future human trials involving humans, clinical trials remain a long way off. The long term effectiveness and safety of CRISPR-Cas9 is still under review.

The studys senior author Dr. Xiao-Jiang Li, PhD is optimistic. The findings open up an avenue for treating Huntingtons as well as other inherited neurodegenerative diseases, although more testing of safety and long-term effects is needed, said Xiao-Jiang.

In addition to developing a treatment for victims of Huntingtons, the Sino-U.S. research group hopes to develop ways to reduce the risk for people who are genetically predisposed to developing Huntingtons.

Last year, the same group of Emory researchers had shown they could delete the huntingtin gene in mice older than four months without any known adverse effects. Younger mice without this gene developed fatal pancreatitis. The findings suggest it may someday be possible to safely shut off the gene in adult humans, as well.

Full results of the groups research was published June 19, 2017 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

MORE ON CRISPR:

For the second time in a year, doctors in China have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique for the treatment of cancer. It is also only the second time CRISPR-Cas9 has been used in human tria

CRISPR-Cas9 is a recently developed gene editing technique that has received worldwide attention because of its relative technical simplicity and wide applications. It is being used in research throughout the world in areas including agriculture, creating new and effective drugs, as well as treating a wide array of genetic disorders.

Defective genes can cause disease. Researchers can use CRISPR Cas-9 like a surgeon uses a scalpelslicing out bad DNA from a damaged genome. Molecular biologists can also transplant normal genes into cellsreplacing damaged or mutated DNA with a new sequence assembled in a lab.

A visualization from the McGovern Institute at MIT explains the science and approach of CRISPR-Cas9.

As the technology advances, scientists hope to someday use CRISPR-Cas9 to create gene therapies that can prevent other inherited diseases, including sickle-cell anemia, Parkinsons disease and cancers that appear to have a genetic component like colon cancer.

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CRISPR gene-editing reverses Huntington's Disease in mice - CGTN America (blog)

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