Partnership to Research Huntington Protein

A collaborative agreement to investigate the structure of the huntingin protein responsible for Huntington's disease has been announced by Structural GenomiX, Inc. (SGX, San Diego, CA, USA) and the Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF, Los Angeles, CA, USA).

Using its high-throughput structure determination technologies, SGX will work with HDF on a dual-track research effort. The first segment will focus on finding how modifications in the 3-D structure of the huntingtin protein are involved in the transition from normal to pathologic function. The second segment will utilize further structural analysis of the protein to determine how the 3-D structure of the protein domains can help elucidate the normal cellular function of the protein. SGX will assist HDF in identifying potential drug leads that interact with the huntingtin protein. The terms of the agreement include payments to SGX for research funding and royalties as well as milestone payments.

The HDF was the first to localize the gene causing Huntington's disease with novel strategies using DNA markers when its chromosomal assignment was unknown. HDF says this was a critical first step in helpting to launch the Human Genome Project. The HDF organized and supported the Huntington's Disease Collaborative Research Group, a team of more than 100 international investigators who collaborated for a decade to clone the huntingtin gene.

"One reason, among many, why we selected SGX to become our partner is its highly integrated capabilities in high-throughput protein production, crystallization, and x-ray crystallography,” said Nancy Wexler, Ph.D., president, HDF.


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