BLOCKED transport systems may be what kills brain cells in people with Huntington’s. The disease is caused by mutations in the gene that codes for the huntingtin protein, and two teams have now shown that the abnormal protein can block the transport of molecules within axons, the long finger-like extensions of nerve cells. Axons’ main function is to transmit nerve impulses but to keep them working, molecules such as proteins must be able to travel to and from the main body of the cell.
“Mutant huntingtin deals a double blow,” says Lawrence Goldstein of the University of California, San Diego. “It steals parts of the cell…
