Scientists use jellyfish protein in search for Huntington's drugs
SAN DIEGO, California, September 12, 2000 (Reuters) - Aurora Biosciences
Corp., helped by a glowing chemical found in some jellyfish, Tuesday
said it will collaborate with the Hereditary Disease Foundation in
developing tests to help researchers find treatments for Huntington's
disease.
Aurora, the San Diego-based maker of drug discovery equipment and
systems,
said it would develop high-speed, industrial-scale tests for thousands
of potential drug compounds by using its green fluorescent protein (GFP)
technology.
The protein is used by a species of jellyfish to evade attackers by
giving off a green fluorescent flash. Aurora would fuse a new gene with
a brighter version of the flash to portions of the defective gene
causing Huntington's in the search for a treatment.
The company's research would involve an alliance with the foundation, a
nonprofit group which led the long period of research that culminated in
the
identification and cloning of the gene behind Huntington's in 1993. The
group has launched a Cure Huntington's Initiative to speed up the hunt
for a cure.
Using GFP and other drug discovery technology, Aurora would help
identify
compounds with the potential to modify the protein involved in
Huntington's
disease, a genetic, so far incurable disorder afflicting about 35,000 to
50,000 people in the United States.
The inherited disease, which typically appears in adulthood, causes the
death of vital nerve cells in a part of the brain, resulting in
involuntary movements of the body, coordination loss and cognitive
difficulties.
After culling chemicals with potential as drugs, Aurora would figure out
their
medicinal properties and collaborate with academic researchers to test
their
efficacy in animal studies, the company said.
"We are confident in Aurora's ability to explore new avenues that could
lead to an effective treatment in the area of Huntington's disease,"
said Ethan Signer, executive director of the foundation's Cure
Huntington's Disease Initiative.
"It is our hope that Aurora's cutting-edge technologies and expertise
will further our scientific knowledge not only of this disease, but of
other related genetic and neurological disorders," he said.
Aurora said that while the genetics underlying Huntington's disease and
related disorders were well-documented, the cellular and molecular
biology of these diseases was just beginning to be grasped.
Any potential compounds effective against the protein involved in
Huntington's
were "quit," Aurora said.
Copyright 2000 Reuters.
© 2000 Cable News Network.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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