Combination therapies of novel or repurposed available drugs may lead to more effective treatment of core symptoms of Fragile X syndrome. However, such an approach faces the challenge of having to test multiple compounds and a combination of a series of drugs, likely in various concentrations each. This would be much too time-consuming and costly for current approaches, where each compound is commonly run through a large set of electrophysiological measurements, as well as behavioral test batteries.

In this project, we propose to develop a highly versatile and innovative drug screening platform for Fragile X syndrome using a combination of a multi-electrode array (MEA) and live mouse tracker (LMT):

• MEA: On this platform, cultured mouse neurons will be used for electrophysiological recordings of neuronal networks. Drugs can be added on a daily basis, and the changes in the measures can assess the drugs.
• LMT: Standard behavioral test batteries will be replaced by a single live mouse tracker recording. This tracker is able to dissect up to 35 different behaviors of up to four mice from a single 24-hour recording, providing a powerful first look at a drug's effectiveness.

By combining MEA and LMT we have established a ready-to-use, innovative and efficient drug screening platform for the preclinical validation of novel compounds and/or repurposed drugs for Fragile X syndrome.

Hot of the press: we have just signed a collaboration agreement with Kantify, an artificial intelligence company specialized in improving human health. Kantify will use their high-tech AI-based algorithms to screen for the most efficient drug combinations, as well as for drugs targeting pathways as yet not interfered with in Fragile X syndrome. In this project funded by FRAXA, we will use their platform to prioritize our combination therapies and novel drug screenings.