In 2024, Jennifer moved from Sydney, Australia to Lund, Sweden to start her PhD studies at the TNU, supervised by Pof. Åsa Petersén. In utilizing novel AAV-vectors and crossbreeding of animal models, Jennifer’s project aims to elucidate the specific hypothalamic circuitries important for the control of metabolism and emotion, with relevance to Huntington’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis an

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/team/jennifer-oraha-phd-student - 2025-06-05

Lundh SH, Soylu R and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.PLoS ONE 7(12): e51168 (2012).AbstractMetabolic and psychiatric disturbances occur early on in the clinical manifestation of Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Hypot

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/expression-mutant-huntingtin-leptin-receptor-expressing-neurons-does-not-control-metabolic-and - 2025-06-05

Hagen N, Lundin S, O'Dell T and Petersén Å.Culture Unbound 4: 537-557 (2012)AbstractModernity has meant a cultural and social differentiation within the western socie- ty, which, according to Jürgen Habermas’ theory on communication, can be seen as a division between different forms of actions that takes place in different realms of the society. By combining Habermas’ notions of lifeworld and sys

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/better-or-worse-lifeworld-system-and-family-caregiving-chronic-genetic-disease - 2025-06-05

Bergh S, Casadei N, Gabery S, Simonsson O,  Duarte JMN, Kirik D, Nguyen HP and Petersén Å.Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 2025;13(1):119. Published 2025 May 27. doi:10.1186/s40478-025-02018-8AbstractTAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) pathology is linked to the neurodegenerative disorders amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Huntington disease (HD). Dysregul

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/tdp-43-overexpression-hypothalamus-drives-neuropathology-dysregulates-metabolism-and-impairs - 2025-06-05

Gabery S, Sajjad MU, Hult S, Soylu R, Kirik D and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.Brain Repair and Imaging in Neural Systems (B.R.A.I.N.S.) Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.European Journal of Neuroscience 36(6):2789-800 (2012)AbstractHuntington's diseas

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/characterization-rat-model-huntingtons-disease-based-targeted-expression-mutant-huntingtin-forebrain - 2025-06-05

Petersen Å and Gabery S.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.Journal of Huntington's disease 1: 13-24 (2012)AbstractHuntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. Today, the clinical diagnosis of the disease requires unequivocal signs of typical moto

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/hypothalamic-and-limbic-system-changes-huntingtons-disease - 2025-06-05

Dupuis L1, 2, 3, Petersen A4, Weydt P31 Inserm U692, Laboratoire de Signalisations Moléculaires et Neurodégénérescence, 67085Strasbourg, France2 Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Médecine, UMRS692, 67085Strasbourg, France3 Department of Neurology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany4 Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, 22184Lu

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/progranulin-bridges-energy-homeostasis-and-fronto-temporal-dementia - 2025-06-05

Hult S*, Soylu R*, Björklund T, Belgardt B F, Mauer J, Brüning J C, Kirik D and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund 22184, Sweden.Cell Metabolism 13: 428-439 (2011) *equal contributionAbstractIn Huntington's disease (HD), the mutant huntingtin protein is ubiquitously expressed. The disease was considered to be li

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/mutant-huntingtin-causes-metabolic-imbalance-disruption-hypothalamic-neurocircuits - 2025-06-05

Piguet O, Petersén A, Yin Ka Lam B, Gabery S, Murphy K, Hodges JR and Halliday GM.Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.Annals of Neurology 69: 312-319 (2011)AbstractOBJECTIVE: Behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder, clinically characterized by changes in cognition, personality, and behavior. Marked disturbances in eating b

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/eating-and-hypothalamus-changes-behavioral-variant-frontotemporal-dementia - 2025-06-05

2025Bergh S, Casadei N, Gabery S, Simonsson O,  Duarte JMN, Kirik D, Nguyen HP and Petersén Å.TDP-43 overexpression in the hypothalamus drives neuropathology, dysregulates metabolism and impairs behavior in mice.Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 2025;13(1):119. Published 2025 May 27. doi:10.1186/s40478-025-02018-8.2024Dalene Skarping K, Arning L, Petersén Å, Nguyen HP and Gebre-Medhin S.Attenu

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/publications - 2025-06-05

Mikrouli E, Wörtwein G, Soylu R, Mathé AA and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund 22184, Sweden.Neuropeptides 45(6): 401-406 (2011)AbstractThe Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat is a genetic animal model of depression that displays characteristics similar to those of depressed patients including lower body weight,

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/increased-numbers-orexinhypocretin-neurons-genetic-rat-depression-model - 2025-06-05

Gil-Mohapel J, Brocardo PS, Smith R, Lagerkvist S, Li JY and Petersén Å.In H.T. Maldonado and I.M. Ortega (Eds.) Striatum: Anatomy, Functions and Role in Disease. New York, USA: Nova Publishers.AbstractBackground: Huntington’s disease (HD) is the most common polyglutamine neurodegenerative disorder. The mutation consists of an unstable expansion of CAG repeats within the coding region of the HD ge

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/impaired-nigrostriatal-dopaminergic-neurotransmission-huntingtons-disease-insights-r61-transgenic - 2025-06-05

Petersén Å.Department of Experimental Medical Science, Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.European Neurological Review 5: 49–53 (2010)AbstractHuntington’s disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder that leads to premature death. There is no satisfactory treatment or cure. The disease is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. The

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/role-hypothalamic-and-neuroendocrine-changes-pathogenesis-huntingtons-disease-current-understanding - 2025-06-05

Gabery S, Murphy K, Schultz K, Loy CT, McCusker E, Kirik D, Halliday G and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, BMC D11, 221 84, Lund, Sweden.Acta Neuropathologica 120: 777-788 (2010)AbstractHuntington disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a CAG repeat in the HD gene. Degeneration co

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/changes-key-hypothalamic-neuropeptide-populations-huntington-disease-revealed-neuropathological - 2025-06-05

Braunstein KE, Eschbach J, Ròna-Vörös K, Soylu R, Mikrouli E, Larmet Y, Rene F, Gonzalez de Aguilar JL, Loeffler JP, Müller HP, Bucher S, Kaulisch T, Niessen HG, Tillmanns J, Fischer K, Schwalenstocker B, Kassubek J, Pichler B, Stiller D, Petersen A, Ludolph AC and Dupuis L.Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.Human Molecular Genetics 19: 4385-4398 (2010)AbstractThe molecular m

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/point-mutation-dynein-heavy-chain-gene-leads-striatal-atrophy-and-compromises-neurite-outgrowth - 2025-06-05

Soneson C, Fontes M, Zhou Y, Denisov V, Paulsen JS, Kirik D and Petersén A; The Huntington Study Group PREDICT-HD investigators.Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Lund University, Sweden; Brain Repair and Imaging in Neural Systems, Department of Experimental Medical Science, BMC D11, Lund University, Sweden; Lund University Bioimaging Center, Lund University, Sweden.Neurobiology of Disease 40: 531-

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/early-changes-hypothalamic-region-prodromal-huntington-disease-revealed-mri-analysis - 2025-06-05

Hult S, Schultz K, Soylu R and Petersén Å.Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Sweden.Current Drug Targets 11: 1237-1249 (2010)AbstractHuntington's disease (HD) is a fatal hereditary neurodegenerative disorder without satisfactory treatments nor a cure. It is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene. The clinical s

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/hypothalamic-and-neuroendocrine-changes-huntingtons-disease - 2025-06-05

Schultz K, Nilsson K, Nielsen JE, Lindquist SG, Hjermind LE, Andersen BB, Wallin A, Nilsson C and Petersén Å.European Journal of Neurology 17: 456- 460 (2010)AbstractBACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated that transthyretin (TTR) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are altered in depression and dementia. The present study aimed to investigate whether CSF TTR can be used to discriminate betwee

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/transthyretin-potential-csf-biomarker-alzheimers-disease-and-dementia-lewy-bodies-effects-treatment - 2025-06-05

Bode FJ, Stephan M, Wiehager S, Nguyen HP, Björkqvist M, von Hörsten S, Bauer A and Petersén Å.Behavioural Brain Research 205: 175-182 (2009)AbstractHuntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the HD gene. Besides psychiatric, motor and cognitive symptoms, HD patients suffer from sleep disturbances. In order to screen a rat model transgenic for HD

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/increased-numbers-motor-activity-peaks-during-light-cycle-are-associated-reductions-adrenergic - 2025-06-05

Wiehager S, Beiderbeck D, Gruber S, El Khoury A, Waamsteker J, Neumann I, Mathé A* and Petersén Å*.Neurobiology of Disease 34: 375-380 (2009) *equal contributionAbstractThe neurobiological bases of mood disorders remain elusive but both monoamines and neuropeptides may play important roles. The neuropeptide cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) was shown to induce anxiety-like behavi

https://www.huntington-research.lu.se/increased-levels-cocaine-and-amphetamine-regulated-transcript-cart-two-animal-models-depression-and - 2025-06-05