The functional neurogenomics of Huntington's disease
Event details
| Date | 24.09.2010 |
| Hour | 12:00 |
| Speaker | Ruth Luthi-Carter |
| Location |
SV 1717 A
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract: Recent work by the Laboratory of Functional Neurogenomics has elucidated new facets of neuronal function and neurodegeneration at the molecular and cellular levels. Our research focuses primarily on the dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder known as Huntington’s disease (HD), which affects neurons in the basal ganglia and cerebral cortex leading to difficulties in motor and psychiatric function. Our system-based approach makes use of quantitative genome-wide RNA analyses to detect mutant huntingtin-induced changes in gene expression a comprehensive manner. We have succeeded in employing gene expression data to establish a more complete picture of the disease process as well as to formulate novel hypotheses about how HD-affected neurons die or can be rescued from neurotoxicity. Our work has established benchmark data and analyses, identified new disease-related mechanisms, and tested novel HD therapeutic strategies. In parallel, we have developed new tools and paradigms for combining molecular and cellular information to benefit CNS drug discovery. In this seminar, I will describe how our gene expression studies of HD-related systems have yielded new insights into the etiology and treatment of neurodegenerative states and also contributed to understanding the basic mechanisms via which striatal and cortical neurons develop and function.
Links
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Manuelle Mary