Berlin [Germany], August 24 (ANI): A novel gene has been linked by researchers in Berlin and Dusseldorf to the development of Huntington’s disease in a brain organoid model. Earlier than previously believed, the gene may play a role in brain disorders. Researchers have discovered the gene CHCHD2 as a possible novel treatment target and have linked it for the first time to Huntington’s Disease (HD), an incurable inherited neurological illness.
The researchers discovered that mutations in the Huntington gene HTT also impact CHCHD2, which is necessary to preserve the proper function of mitochondria, in a brain organoid model of the illness. Nature Communications published the study. Six different labs at the Max Delbruck Center participated in the study, led by Dr.
Jakob Metzger of the “Quantitative Stem Cell Biology” lab at the and the “Stem Cell Metabolism” lab of Professor Alessandro Prigione at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU). Each lab contributed their unique expertise on Huntington’s disease, brain organoids, stem cell research and genome editing. “We were surprised to find that Huntington’s disease can impair early brain development through defects associated with mitochondrial dysfunction,” said Dr Pawel Lisowski, co-lead author in the Metzger lab at the Max Delbruck Center.
Moreover, “the organoid model suggests that HTT mutations damage brain development even before clinical symptoms appear, highlighting the importance of detecting the .