Science That Changes Lives
From breakthroughs in the lab to real-world progress—accelerating research that delivers results for families today.
Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS, IBM - Hong Joo Kim, Ph.D.
Hong Joo Kim, a postdoctoral fellow at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over a period of three years to study new genes for a newly recognized disorder called multisystem proteinopathy (MSP).
MSP causes symptoms that are seen frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Paget’s disease of bone (PDB), and in two diseases covered by MDA — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inclusion-body myositis (IBM). “Patients with this rare, inherited multisystem disease may experience isolated IBM, FTD, ALS or PDB, which can be indistinguishable from other familial and sporadic cases of these disorders, or the disease may manifest in multiple tissues in the same patient,” Kim says.
While a gene has been discovered that causes MSP, this gene is not responsible for the disease in other families. That led Kim and colleagues to use modern gene-hunting techniques to search for other potential candidates.
They found two such genes, called heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPA2B1 andhnRNPA1), which bind to a cellular messenger called RNA. Alterations in binding and transport are increasingly seen as likely causes of multiple diseases in the nervous system. “Studying the genes that cause this rare multisystem syndrome represents a unique opportunity to identify a fundamental molecular defect that underlies multiple common age-related diseases,” Kim says.
The disease-causing mutations they have found appear to increase the likelihood that individual units of protein will clump together, a feature of many other neurodegenerative diseases. Kim plans to generate fly and mouse research models that contain either the normal or mutant forms of hnRNPA2B1 and A1, in order to study their effects. “We seek to recapitulate the full spectrum of MSP, to elucidate the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis, and to identify target genes that are misregulated in hnRNPA2B1- and A1-associated diseases,” she says, which may lead to new strategies for treating MSP and other diseases.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS, IBM - Hong Joo Kim, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS, IBM - Eric Ross, Ph.D.
Eric Ross, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $363,000 over a period of three years to study proteins whose aggregation causes neurodegeneration.
Neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are characterized by the formation of protein clumps, or aggregates, in or around muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons. Aggregates also are seen in the muscle disease inclusion-body myositis (IBM). These aggregates are believed to indicate an ongoing toxic process within the cell and may be toxic themselves.
“Interestingly, similar protein aggregation can be seen even in simple single-cell organisms such as yeast,” says Ross. Some aggregates can harm not only the cell in which they form, but also neighboring cells by spreading to them and inducing aggregation. Such proteins are called prion-like for their resemblance to proteins found in prion diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease).
Yeast makes a powerful model system in which to study the spread of prion-like proteins, Ross says, because it grows rapidly and its genes can be easily manipulated. “Based on studies in yeast, our lab has developed methods to identify new disease-associated proteins in other organisms. Remarkably, in just the past few years, various labs have linked mutations in six of these proteins to certain inclusion-body myopathies and some forms of ALS.”
Ross will be examining how the sequence of amino acids in these proteins affects aggregation and toxicity, and how disease-associated mutations change the physical properties of the proteins.
“These studies will provide insight into the causes of these diseases, facilitate the identification of potential drug targets for therapeutic intervention, and improve our ability to identify other disease-associated prion-like proteins,” he says.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS, IBM - Eric Ross, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS, IBM - Benoit Coulombe, Ph.D.
Benoit Coulombe, director of the Proteomics and Gene Transcription Laboratory at the University of Montréal in Quebec, Canada, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $377,067 over a period of three years to study the regulation of a protein whose gene, when mutated, can cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inclusion-body myositis (IBM).
Valosin Containing Protein (VCP) helps clear misfolded proteins so that they do not cause damage within cells. Mutations in the VCP gene that interfere with this function are one cause of both ALS and IBM.
VCP is a type of protein called a molecular chaperone. “Building a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which molecular chaperones play a role in the onset and development of neuromuscular disorders is important for the design of new tools to better diagnose and treat some of these conditions,” Coulombe says.
Recently, his group discovered that a set of proteins called methyltransferases regulates the activity of VCP, raising the possibility that this regulatory system may go awry when VCP is mutated. By studying the activity of methyltransferases and VCP in both healthy and diseased cells, Coulombe hopes to learn more about the regulation of chaperones and how it is affected by disease-causing mutations.
The goal is to examine the full range of changes brought about by methyltransferase activity, using state-of-the-art tools to capture and characterize the set of protein modifications in cells. Coulombe also will explore whether changes in VCP and the proteins with which it interacts can serve as a “biomarker,” helping to identify diseased cells and following their response to treatment.
“Characterizing these newly discovered enzymes will help us understand the molecular bases of these disorders and accelerate the development of diagnosis and therapeutic tools relevant to their treatment,” he says.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS, IBM - Benoit Coulombe, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS, CMT - Martha Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
Martha Bhattacharya, a postdoctoral research scholar in developmental biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over a period of three years to study how and why axons degenerate.
Axons are the long extensions of motor neurons (muscle-controlling nerve cells) that link up with muscles. Signals are sent down the axon to cause the muscle to contract. When an axon degenerates, it can no longer carry those signals, leading to weakness.
“In neuromuscular diseases where motor neuron dysfunction is the primary cause of disability, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, axonal degeneration is a unifying pathological hallmark of disease progression,” Bhattacharya says.
To study axonal degeneration, she and her colleagues developed a fruit fly research model that allows the identification of necessary components of the axonal degeneration cascade. Using this system, she has identified several key steps in the process, including one involving a protein called G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), and another called protein kinase.
“These receptors are highly desirable drug targets,” Bhattacharya says, and pharmaceutical companies have a great deal of experience designing drugs to influence their behavior. “For the GPCR, we will determine its signaling mechanism in mammalian neurons and test its ability to protect neuromuscular synapses after injury. For the kinase, we will examine the effects of loss of this protein on mouse axons and synapses,” the sites of information exchange between nerve and muscle.
Learning more about the details of axonal degeneration also will help researchers understand more about the entire disease process, potentially leading to other targets for therapeutic intervention.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS, CMT - Martha Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
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Grant - Additional Grants 2013 - ALS — ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI)
MDA and the nonprofit biotech ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) have extended their strategic research partnership through 2013. With the extension comes a $3.2 million MDA grant to help support the nonprofit biotech's continued progress toward developing treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
ALS TDI, located in Cambridge, Mass., screens at least 25 potential ALS therapeutics every year.
“MDA has been, and continues to be a key partner in providing us the resources needed to move more ideas and projects forward faster than before,” said Steve Perrin, ALS TDI CEO and chief scientific officer. “MDA support has enabled many discoveries and advancements which hold great potential for people diagnosed with ALS.”
Grantee: ALS — ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI)
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Grant - Summer 2015 - SMA - Kevin Foust, Ph.D.
Kevin Foust, assistant professor in the department of neuroscience at Ohio State University in Columbus, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $293,378 over three years to investigate disruption of gut bacteria in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The gut microbiome is the collection of organisms that inhabit a healthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Dysbiosis, or changes in the gut microbiome, disrupts GI motility, nutrient uptake and lipid metabolism, creating a spiral that impacts patient health. Foust will examine the microbiome in mouse models of SMA and determine the effects of antibiotics, probiotics and fecal transplants on the SMA mouse microbiome. This study may help guide patients in the use of probiotics or other measures in order to maintain normal gastrointestinal function and nutritional health.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: SMA - Kevin Foust, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - SMA - Constantin d’Ydewalle, Ph.D.
Constantin d’Ydewalle, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over three years to test a gene therapy designed to increase levels of SMN protein in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The work, co-funded by the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine Foundation for Research and Education (AANEM), may lead to the development of a new treatment that could be useful by itself or in combination with other therapies in development.
Funding for this MDA development grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: SMA - Constantin d’Ydewalle, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Xin Wang, Ph.D.
Xin Wang, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $405,000 over a period of three years to identify and test novel drug candidates for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The need for new drugs in ALS is clear, Wang says, because the only drug approved for the disease is riluzole, which extends survival on average by only about three months.
Preliminary evidence suggests that increased cellular signaling of the melatonin system may be neuroprotective. Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, binds to the melatonin receptor 1A (MT1). Wang will test the hypothesis that increased stimulation of MT1 will slow disease development and progression. Her work will involve identifying compounds called MT1 agonists that bind to and stimulate the receptor. She will then test these agonists in cell culture and in a mouse model of ALS.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Xin Wang, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - SMA - Arthur Burghes, Ph.D.
Arthur Burghes, professor of biological chemistry and pharmacology, molecular genetics, and neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $188,613 over two years to refine how a genotype can be used to predict the severity of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Burghes will develop assays to test whether SMA patients have either intact or defective SMN2 genes, which serve as the backup for the SMN1 gene lost in SMA patients. Since the level of SMN2 determines the disease severity in SMA patients, these assays may be able to better predict how disease may progress in an individual.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: SMA - Arthur Burghes, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Sunitha Rangaraju, Ph.D.
Sunitha Rangaraju, a postdoctoral research scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over a period of three years to determine whether compounds that slow certain aspects of aging may be therapeutic in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The biggest known risk factor for ALS is advancing age, suggesting that the processes that contribute to aging also may contribute to ALS. This led Rangaraju and colleagues to hypothesize that compounds that slow the aging process might be valuable as drugs against ALS. To that end, their lab screened more than 89,000 molecules for those that delay aging and extend life span in C. elegans, a small worm that is widely used to study aging.
That screen turned up more than 100 molecules that extend worm life span. Rangaraju is now testing those compounds in a worm model of ALS to see if they also contribute to longevity in the context of the disease.
The worm research model of ALS shares important characteristics with human ALS, including “protein aggregation, movement defects, reduction of neuron-to-muscle signals and a shorter life span,” Rangaraju says. She already has identified several compounds that extend life span in these worms, and now will test others, and determine how the most promising ones influence protein aggregation or other aspects of ALS. She then plans to test the most promising molecules in mouse models of ALS, the next step in drug development.
“In the field of ALS, great progress has been made in developing animal models of the disease and unraveling disease mechanisms,” says Rangaraju. “These findings allow us to test novel strategies to develop therapeutic molecules to ameliorate the disease.”
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Sunitha Rangaraju, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - SBMA - Diane Merry, Ph.D.
Diane Merry, associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to identify therapeutic opportunities to promote normal androgen receptor function while preventing the toxic effects of polyglutamine expansion in spinal-bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). Working with GlaxoSmithKline, Merry will test small molecule compounds that activate an enzyme called SIRT1 in cell and mouse models of SBMA to determine their therapeutic potential.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: SBMA - Diane Merry, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - Muscle disease - Michael Kyba, Ph.D.
Michael Kyba, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to study the role of satellite cells in skeletal muscle regeneration. Kyba’s research to discover and study genes that regulate the regenerative potential of satellite cells will lead to a better understanding of skeletal muscle regeneration, with implications for our understanding of skeletal muscle regeneration in disease states and of the differences in muscle regenerative potential between individuals.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: Muscle disease - Michael Kyba, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - Muscle disease - Colin Crist, Ph.D.
Colin Crist, an assistant professor in the department of human genetics at McGill University in Québec, Canada, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to investigate a biological mechanism that determines whether skeletal muscle stem cells, which play an important role in muscle regeneration, self-renew or differentiate. Crist has identified inhibitors that control this functional “switch.” This work may inform muscular dystrophy therapy development.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: Muscle disease - Colin Crist, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Mohamed Farah, Ph.D.
Mohamed Farah, assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $375,000 over a period of three years to test drugs in models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
In ALS, muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons become dysfunctional before they die, and that period of dysfunction may represent an important window in which new therapies could rescue them. “The overall goal of this grant is to investigate whether the capacity of motor nerves to regenerate after insult or disease can be enhanced to a degree that results in functional recovery,” Farah says.
He will be testing whether drugs originally designed for Alzheimer’s disease can offer benefit in animal models of ALS by increasing neuronal regeneration and restoring neuromuscular function when given in the early stages of disease.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Mohamed Farah, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Li Niu, Ph.D.
Li Niu, professor and chair of chemistry at the State University of New York at Albany, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $405,000 over a period of three years to develop new drugs as potential therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
One mechanism believed to be involved in ALS is overactivity of a protein called the AMPA receptor on the surface of muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons. Too much receptor activity leads to too much excitation of the neuron, and eventually the neuron dies.
“Finding inhibitors to control the excessive receptor activity has been a long-pursued strategy for developing ALS drugs,” says Niu.
Niu is developing AMPA receptor inhibitors made from a cell chemical called RNA. These inhibitors, called RNA aptamers, have been shown to prevent receptor activity, but are vulnerable to cellular enzymes that break them down. Niu plans to chemically modify the aptamers to make them resistant to these enzymes. “That is the first step to translate these powerful AMPA receptor aptamers into clinically useful drugs,” he says.
He has already developed several chemically modified aptamers, and will now test their neuroprotective effectiveness in ALS cellular and animal models. “These studies are key preclinical experiments to advance these RNA inhibitors as a new ALS drug,” he says.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Li Niu, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - McArdle disease - Ronald Haller, M.D.
Ronald Haller, professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to identify the cause and possible effective treatment for the oxidative defect that accompanies blocked glycogen breakdown in McArdle disease (phosphorylase deficiency). Haller plans to assess levels of metabolites in humans before and after exercise to better characterize the metabolic profile of patients, and test whether small increases in key molecules can help and improve patients’ capacity for exercise.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: McArdle disease - Ronald Haller, M.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Jeffrey Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D.
Jeffrey Rothstein, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $392,706 over a period of three years to study the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), using cells derived from patient skin samples.
“Understanding the pathophysiology of and developing new therapeutics for ALS and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia has been an enormous challenge,” Rothstein says. Among the biggest roadblocks has been the difficulty of developing appropriate models of the disease — ones that closely parallel the human condition.
A new technique to overcome this barrier is the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These cells can be taken from the skin of an individual with ALS and treated with growth factors to return them to a less differentiated state. From this stem-cell-like condition, they can then be induced to develop into any cell type, including muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons or other cells of the central nervous system.
Rothstein plans to use iPS cells from people whose ALS is caused by a mutation in the C9ORF72 gene, the most common genetic cause of ALS. By comparing these cells to cells from unaffected individuals, Rothstein hopes to find a molecular signature for the disease-causing effects of the mutant gene. That signature, or biomarker, can then be used to quickly assess the effects of potential therapies on the cells. “The use of these human cells may allow us to efficiently and quickly develop a drug therapy for the C9ORF72 form of ALS,” he says.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Jeffrey Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - LGMD - Shinichi Takayama, M.D., Ph.D.
Shinichi Takayama, a research associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine, was awarded an MDA grant totaling $300,000 over three years to identify potential therapeutic targets in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). Takayama will study the scaffolding protein BAG3 and its interactions with proteins implicated in myofibrillar myopathies and LGMD. This innovative approach could reveal that a group of diseases have a common pathogenesis caused by aberrant protein assembly and could point the way to future therapeutic strategies.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: LGMD - Shinichi Takayama, M.D., Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Heather Durham, Ph.D.
Heather Durham, professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University in Quebec, Canada, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $355,936 over a period of three years to study the consequences of mutations in the FUS gene for muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons.
Mutations in FUS are known to be a cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that involves the death of motor neurons. The FUS protein binds to RNA, which cells use to bring protein-making instructions from the nucleus to other parts of the cell. FUS joins up with other proteins to do this. FUS mutations can disrupt the protein's ability to move through the cell and bind properly to other cell components to make these transport complexes.
“In neurons, the distribution of these RNA-containing complexes is particularly important for maintaining connections with other neurons, and for responding to the level of neuronal activity and stress,” Durham says. Her research will study the details of how mutations affect trafficking of FUS and its partners, including RNA, and how these abnormalities relate to or affect cellular adaptive responses. Understanding these important changes may shed light on how these and other ALS-causing gene mutations lead to the death of motor neurons.
“This is a very exciting time in ALS research,” she says. “The recent discoveries of new genes associated with ALS point us toward the commonalities and differences in the multiple disorders we call ALS. Those commonalities will not only help us to identify targets for therapy, but will establish the best preclinical models in which to evaluate their efficacy.”
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Heather Durham, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - LGMD - Criss Hartzell, Ph.D.
Criss Hartzell, professor of cell biology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., was awarded an MDA research grant to elucidate the mechanisms underlying type 2L limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), caused by mutations in the ANO5 gene. Hartzell will examine the role the ANO5 protein plays in trafficking and fusion of cell membranes during muscle repair, and how mutations in this protein disrupt these functions. The work may uncover unique targets around which to base new therapeutic approaches.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: LGMD - Criss Hartzell, Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - FSHD - Antoine de Morrée, Ph.D.
Antoine de Morrée, a postdoctoral scholar at Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research and Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over three years to test a way to stop muscles from making toxic DUX4 protein as a possible treatment for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The goals of de Morrée’s work are to understand how cells make stabile RNA messages, and to develop a way to destabilize RNA messages that allow cellular machinery to produce the DUX4 protein. These studies have the potential to lead to new treatments that will reduce the toxicity in the muscles of patients with FSHD.
Funding for this MDA development grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: FSHD - Antoine de Morrée, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Giovanni Manfredi, M.D., Ph.D.
Giovanni Manfredi, professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, N.Y., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $355,317 over a period of three years to study whether calcium imbalance in nervous system support cells called astrocytes contributes to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The death of muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons cause the symptoms of ALS, but in recent years it has become clear that astrocytes contribute to the death of motor neurons. Astrocytes normally help motor neurons; and how and why they harm them in ALS is unknown.
“We have developed a novel hypothesis to explain the mechanisms of astrocyte toxicity in familial ALS, which involves intracellular calcium signaling,” Manfredi says. Calcium serves as an internal sensor for regulating many cellular functions. “All cells, including astrocytes, have to keep calcium levels in check at all times.”
His work has suggested that changes within the astrocyte lead to impaired calcium regulation and secretion of toxic molecules, which in turn cause motor neuron death. He plans to further test this hypothesis by manipulating the amount of oxidative stress to which astrocytes are exposed, both in cell culture and in animal models, and studying how they handle calcium in response. His preliminary work has identified a protein that may be centrally involved in regulating calcium in astrocytes, and he will further study this protein to determine if it is a potential target for therapy.
“Numerous exciting reports have emerged in ALS research in the past few years, strongly suggesting that ALS is the product of the combined action of multiple cell types in the nervous systems, including neurons and glial cells,” Manfredi says. (Astrocytes are a type of glial cell.) “These new developments in ALS research will accelerate the understanding of the disease and the development of effective therapies.”
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Giovanni Manfredi, M.D., Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - FA - Sanjay Bidichandani, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
CMRI Claire Gordon Duncan Chair in Genetics and Professor of Pediatrics Sanjay Bidichandani, at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to address clinically and scientifically important questions regarding the use of existing and novel HDAC inhibitors to increase levels of the frataxin protein in Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). Bidichandani and colleagues recently found that the mechanism of gene silencing in FA involves shutting off the FXN gene promoter, a region of the gene that typically controls when and how much a gene should be turned on. They are now working to identify therapeutic molecules that will effectively reverse FXN promoter silencing in FA, and to determine the precise mechanism by which promoter inactivation and reactivation occurs.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: FA - Sanjay Bidichandani, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
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Grant - Summer 2015 - DMD - Yetrib Hathout, Ph.D.
Yetrib Hathout, associate professor in the department of integrative systems biology at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to develop a panel of molecular biomarkers, detectable in blood, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). If successful, these biomarkers could help clinicians monitor progression of the disease and determine whether a drug or treatment is working. In addition, they may shed light on the molecular mechanisms of muscle degeneration and point the way toward new therapeutic strategies.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Aug. 1, 2015.
Grantee: DMD - Yetrib Hathout, Ph.D.
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Grant – Winter 2013 – ALS - Fenghua Hu, Ph.D.
Fenghua Hu, research scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $360,000 over a period of three years to study the effects of TDP43 gene mutations in a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Mutations in the TDP43 gene have been shown to cause ALS in some instances. Even in individuals with ALS who do not have TDP43 mutations, the TDP43 protein usually clumps together abnormally, forming aggregates within muscle-controlling nerve cells called motor neurons. “This suggests that the misbehavior of TDP43 protein could cause neurodegeneration,” Hu says.
The TDP43 protein found in the aggregates is often just a piece of the whole protein, indicating it has been cleaved. It is also often “tagged” with a smaller protein, called ubiquitin, used by the cell to mark a protein for destruction and recycling. “However, the role of TDP43 fragments and ubiquitination in disease progression is still not clear,” Hu says.
She plans to develop a model of ALS using zebrafish, a small and fast-growing fish used as a lab model for the study of many diseases. In the fish, she will study how TDP43 protein fragments induce toxicity and cause neurodegeneration, which should help researchers develop better targets for therapy in ALS.
Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.
Grantee: ALS - Fenghua Hu, Ph.D.
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