Brain organoid model implicates gene in disease progression

Huntington’s Disease organoids (right) exhibit almost no neural progenitors (red) and also show defects in cellular polarity (yelllow). These defects have been described in the literature in human fetuses with Huntington’s disease. Credit: Selene Lickefett, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Werner Dykstra, Max Delbrück Center For the first time, researchers have implicated the gene CHCHD2 in Huntington’s disease (HD)—an incurable genetic neurodegenerative disorder—and identified the gene as a potentially new therapeutic target. In a brain organoid model of the disease, the researchers found that mutations in the Huntington gene HTT also affect CHCHD2, which is involved in maintaining the normal function of mitochondria. Read More