Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, California, USA
The book is written lucidly by authorities in their respective fields, covering clinical features, pathogenic mechanisms, protein interactions, preclinical models, biomarkers, small molecules and other approaches (eg, recombinant antibodies), screening strategies, and drug development. Informative figures and tables are provided, and reproduction of key figures as a set of colour plates provides a useful centrepiece. One unifying message is that the polyglutamine xpansion leads to a complex cascade of diverse molecular and cellular events, the progress of which is difficult to slow or halt. Innovative approaches described, such as the target validation process of the Cure Huntington's Disease Initiative (CHDI) Foundation, will be of interest to those studying other neurological diseases.--Anthony J Hannan, writing in The Lancet Neurology, March 2011