New to the Huntington's Disease Lighthouse?
 Welcome to the HDlighthouse!
 Getting started.
 
Home \ Research \ General Research \ Updates
 
  Research
  Aggregates
  Brain
  Drugs
  Gene Therapy
  General
  Genetic
  Immunity
  Tissue
HD Lighthouse Editors Comment: The inert gas xenon is moving to clinical trials for the protection on neurons. Here on the HDL we want to know if there is potential for the treatment of HD. There is. Xenon is potent blocker of a receptor thought to play a role in HD pathology. Drugs that block the receptor, such remacemide, are limited because of toxic side effects. Xenon has no such side effects. --Jerry


Posted to HDLighthouse: 08-June-2002
HDL Update: Xenon May Treat Huntington's Disease


Xenon's pharmacological properties

Since the discovery that the gas xenon can produce general anaesthesia without causing undesirable side effects, we have remained surprisingly ignorant of the molecular mechanisms underlying this clinical activity of an 'inert' gas.

Although most general anaesthetics enhance the activity of inhibitory GABAA (gamma-aminobutyric acid type-A) receptors, we find that the effects of xenon on these receptors are negligible. Instead, xenon potently inhibits the excitatory NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor channels, which may account for many of xenon's attractive pharmacological properties.

Source: Adapted from: Scientific Correspondence Nature 396, 324 (1998) FRANKS NP, et al.Biophysics Section, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London

Read the HDAC/HDLighthouse Forum. Post your comments
   
 
10 Most Recent Updates
for: General Research

Peptide May Treat Huntington Disease
A first clinical sign of the mutant huntingtin gene is decreased blood flow. Researchers at USF have discovered a ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 13 Feb 2004

Toxin 3NPA and Huntington's Disease
HD researcher Mark Mattson recently invited Edward Calabrese to visit his lab to discuss the possibility of experiments that would ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 12 Dec 2003

Mosaicism In Huntington's Disease
This is the single most important follow up after the discovery of the mutant gene in 1993. If the expansion ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 16 Nov 2003

Organ Regeneration Sparks Huntington Hope
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have harnessed newly discovered cells from an unexpected source, the spleen, to cure juvenile diabetes in ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 14 Nov 2003

Laser To Aid Huntington's Disease Research
Sandia nanolaser may help extend life-spans by rapidly analyzing possible neuroprotectant drugs. Preventing mitochondria from turning ugly may postpone Alzheimer’s, ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 23 Sep 2003

Small Molecules May Treat Huntington's Disease
Reata seeks to discover small molecules that will cross the blood brain barrier and disable the mutant hutingtin protein. ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 16 Sep 2003

Huntington's Misfolding Folding Protein
It is thought that the mutant Huntington's disease gene produces a protein that folds differently. Knowing just how the mutant ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 30 Aug 2003

ALS Protein Found in Huntington's Disease
The researchers have discovered the mutant SOD1 protein is also found in Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease. ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 28 Aug 2003

Lab To Find Cure For Huntington's Disease
The new lab is part of a larger set of labs in the Health Profession Building that is scheduled to ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 21 Aug 2003

Researchers Discover Cause For Aging
Amazingly, if we perturb insulin/IGF-1 signaling and reproductive cells in the same animal, we end up with animals that live ...
Jerry Lampson
Posted to HDL: 16 May 2003 [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Disclaimer & Privacy Policy | Welcome | Site Feedback Marsha@HDLighthouse.org