astrocytes

With a $95,000 grant from FRAXA Research Foundation over 2 years, Mary McKenna at the University of Maryland studied the role of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) and how they affect other cells and pathways.

FRAXA Research Foundation has awarded $45,000 to Dr. Maija Castrén, of the University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Castren is working with Dr. Iryna Ethell, at the University of California at Riverside, to uncover mechanisms behind beneficial effects of lovastatin and cholesterol-dependent changes seen in the Fragile X brain.

With this grant, the team will identify the pathways responsible for this excessive activation and attempt to reverse the excess. If they can correct this using drugs, they will be able to identify a new potential treatment for Fragile X syndrome solving one more piece of the Fragile X brain puzzle.

Astrocytes are star-shaped cells that make up one fifth of all cells in the human brain. Recently researchers found a specific pathway in astrocytes that is overactive in Fragile X syndrome, and they hope to bring this pathway back to normal with a drug. With this grant, the team will try to correct the pathway in Fragile X mice. The hope is that they will find a new potential treatment approach for Fragile X syndrome.

Most Fragile X research has focused on one type of brain cells: neurons. But mounting evidence point to problems with astrocytes, star-shaped cells which are vitally important to normal brain function. This team is working to understand how astrocytes are involved in Fragile X and develop treatment approaches that targets astrocytes alone.