Metabolic and Mitochondrial Crosstalk in Insulin and cAMP Pathways in Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome research explores insulin and cAMP pathway crosstalk, mapping brain metabolism to guide treatment strategies.

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Validating Novel Inhibitors of ERK Signalling to Treat Fragile X Syndrome

This team is testing ERK inhibitors — drugs that may calm overactive brain signaling in Fragile X. Early results in mice show strong benefits with minimal side effects.

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Brain Organoids and Therapeutic Development for Fragile X and Other Rare Diseases

This is the first in a series of webinars focused on current topics in Fragile X research. In this webinar we hear from Alysson R. Muotri, PhD, Professor at University of California San Diego Stem Cell Programand Fabio C. Tucci, PhD, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder at Epigen Biosciences, Inc.

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Galarneau lab team

Clinical Trial of Metformin for Fragile X Syndrome

Metformin is commonly prescribed to control high blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. With a $50,000 grant from FRAXA Research Foundation, Dr. Artuela Çaku and Dr. Francois LePage are conducting an open-label clinical trial of metformin for children and adults with Fragile X syndrome, at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada.

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18th International Fragile X and Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders Workshop, Quebec, Canada

In Their Own Words: Reports From the International Fragile X Workshop

The 18th International Fragile X Workshop in Quebec was a great success, featuring more Fragile X research than ever before!

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Emily Osterweil

Enhancement of NMDA Receptor Signaling for the Treatment of Fragile X Syndrome

FRAXA Research Foundation funded a 2016-2017 Fellowship for Dr. Stephanie Barnes in the University of Edinburgh lab of Dr. Emily Osterweil. With this $90,000 award, the team is investigating NMDA signaling in fragile X syndrome mice.

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Dr. Tom Jongens and Dr. Sean McBride study Fragile X Fruit Flies

Fruit Flies to Model and Test Fragile X Treatments

Dr. Jongens and his collaborators have found an insulin-like protein in the fly brain that is overexpressed in the Fragile X mutant fly, leading to increased activity of the insulin signaling pathway. Furthermore, they found that certain behavioral patterns in the Fragile X flies can be rescued by expressing the FX gene just in insulin producing neurons in the fly brain. In the mutant, there are other changes in the signaling pathways, including a decrease in cAMP and elevation in PI3K, mTOR, Akt and ERK activity. They now propose to study 2 medicines used for diabetes: pioglitazone (increases cAMP and decreases Akt and ERK) and metformin (inhibits mTOR), in flies and mice to validate the potential efficacy of these novel therapeutics for Fragile X.

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Social Behavior as an Outcome Measure for Fragile X Clinical Trials

One of the features of the Fragile X mouse model which is relevant to the human Fragile X syndrome (and autism) is social behavior. Several tests show consistent social behavioral abnormalities in the Fragile X mouse model. With a $140,000 grant from FRAXA Research Foundation in 2012-2013, Dr. Willemsen at Erasmus University used social behavior tests to measure the effectiveness of several drug strategies.

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Dr. Emily Osterweil

Lovastatin Discovery in Fragile X Mice Leads FRAXA to Fund Clinical Trials

Dr. Emily Osterweil was awarded the FRAXA Pioneer Award at the opening dinner of the 2011 FRAXA Investigators Meeting in Southbridge, MA for her work demonstrating that Lovastatin could treat Fragile X. Dr. Osterweil conducted her experiments in the MIT laboratory of Dr. Mark Bear and has since established her own laboratory at the University of Edinburgh. The team discovered that lovastatin, a drug widely prescribed for high cholesterol, can correct excess hippocampal protein synthesis in the mouse model of FXS and can prevent epileptogenesis. The work is published in the prestigious neuroscience journal Neuron: Lovastatin Corrects Excess Protein Synthesis and Prevents Epileptogenesis in a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome.

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What Works, and What Doesn’t

At the start, it’s always hard to know what methods will work best for something as complex as the development of disease-modifying treatments for Fragile X. But, we’ve always tried to let the science lead us down the right path. At this point, the results are unequivocal, and they have shaped how we are looking for the Next Great Thing in Fragile X treatments.

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FRAXA Funded Research

Current Research Grants (40)