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| | Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) |
 | | Elena Cattaneo, from the University of Milan, in Italy, and colleagues found that the huntingtin protein controls the production of another protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for maintaining the type of brain cells that die off in patients with Huntington's. |
 | | According to the researchers, patients' mutated huntingtin protein cannot produce proper amounts of BDNF, which leads to brain deterioration. |
 | | Therapeutic drugs aimed at mimicking or increasing the normal activity of huntingtin protein may be effective in treating the disease, they conclude. |
| hdlighthouse.org /see/research/bdnf.htm (343 words) |
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