AMPK Archives

Altered Neural Excitability and Chronic Anxiety in a Mouse Model of Fragile X

FRAXA Research Foundation 2001-2005 Grants • 2006-2010 Grants • 2016 Grants • Completed Research Grants • Disease Mechanisms • Scripps Research Institute • Treatment Targets • Vanderklish, Peter September 13, 2017January 16, 2019AMPK, GSK3

With a $35,000 grant from FRAXA Research Foundation in 2016, Dr. Peter Vanderklish at Scripps Research Institute, and colleagues, explored the basis of anxiety in Fragile X syndrome.

Targeting AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway in Fragile X Syndrome

FRAXA Research Foundation 2015 Grants • Biomarkers • Completed Research Grants • Scripps Research Institute • Treatment Targets • Vanderklish, Peter September 13, 2015April 25, 2018AMPK, FDA, GSK3, metformin, mGluR, mTOR, PDE4

With a $100,000 grant from the FRAXA Research Foundation in 2015, Dr. Peter Vanderklish explored a novel strategy to treat Fragile X syndrome: AMPK activators. The good news is that there are FDA approved (for example, metformin) and naturally occurring AMPK activators (such as resveratrol, found in red wine).

Peter Vanderklish, PhD, at Scripps Research Institute, FRAXA research grant

FRAXA Grant to Nahum Sonenberg, PhD — Effects of metformin in Fmr1 knockout mouse model of Fragile X syndrome

FRAXA Research Foundation 2015 Grants • 2016 Grants • Disease Mechanisms • Drug Repurposing • McGill University • Research Grant Results • Sonenberg, Nahum • Treatment Targets April 8, 2015May 15, 2020AMPK, FDA, metformin, mRNAs, mTOR

Mis-regulation of activity-dependent protein synthesis is one of the major cellular abnormalities found in Fragile X. Upstream neuronal signaling regulates a large cluster of enzymes called the mTORC1 complex, which in turn regulates protein synthesis. This complex is also controlled by cellular energy levels via the metabolic sensor AMP-activated Protein Kinase (AMPK). AMPK is a highly conserved kinase that is activated under conditions of energy stress, when intracellular ATP levels decline and intracellular AMP increases.