New key in fighting Kennedy's disease - Revisited

This is the same study as reported in an earlier post, but I believe the Science Daily’s writing is more generic and easier understood.

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If a disease affects motoneurons, cells that control voluntary muscle activity, researchers should focus their efforts on motoneurons to find potential treatments, right?

Not always.

In new research led by Michigan State University and published in the current issue of Human Molecular Genetics, scientists have found a new target, which could lead to future treatments for Kennedy's disease. The disease, also known as spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, affects only men later in life and robs them of the capacity to walk, run, chew and swallow.

Researchers of motoneuron disease typically have focused on how bad genes in the motoneurons cause them to become sick and die. It was presumed that the disease, which causes severe and progressive muscle wasting and weakness, is being driven by a loss of connections with dying neurons in the spinal cord.

"We now believe the opposite is true," said Cynthia Jordan, MSU neuroscientist and senior author of the paper. "We think that the bad gene in the muscle is the culprit -- that it works backwards to inflict damage on the motoneurons." …

To read the entire article, follow this link:  New keyin fighting Kennedy's disease