Bryostatin Restores Learning and Memory in Adult Fragile X Mice

bugula

A bizarre marine critter found off the California coast — Bugula neritina— is the only known source of a potential new Fragile X treatment, Bryostatin. Last month, FRAXA sat down with scientists from Neurotrope BioScience, a specialty biopharmaceutical company developing medicines for rare diseases and Alzheimer’s based on Bryostatin. Their Fragile X program is based on research by a West Virginia team led by Daniel Alkon, MD, which showed that Bryostatin-1 restores hippocampal synapses and spatial learning and memory in adult Fragile X mice.

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Role of Experience in Regulating Levels of the Fragile X Protein

Kenneth J. Mack, MD, PhD, at Mayo Clinic, FRAXA research grant

FRAXA awarded $29,000 in 2001 and $20,000 in 2000 to Kenneth J. Mack, MD, PhD — Mayo Clinic with Peter K. Todd, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. While a professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Mack investigated whether and how FMRP levels are regulated in response to neuronal stimulation in vivo (in live animals). He looked at the effects of seizures and of experience in his experiments. Dr. Mack and colleagues published their findings.

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