UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER AT DALLAS
Grant: $123,366 - National Institutes of Health - Aug. 14, 2009
No votes have been cast for this award yet
Join the conversation: Post a comment about this award
Award Description: Public Narrative Statement: This project will help to better understand the cause of SCA2, an inherited and lethal neurodegenerative disorder.
Project Description: As a part of cell biological studies of InsP3R1 proposed in the parent grant, my laboratory performed an unbiased screen for novel InsP3R1-binding partners. In the process we discovered that InsP3R1 binds to polyglutamine-expanded proteins which are linked to fatal neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington?s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias. These initial biochemical findings prompted us to examine functional consequences of association between InsP3R1 and polyglutamine-expanded proteins. The main aim of the experiments proposed in the supplemental application is to determine the functional effects of association between polyQ-expanded ataxin-2 and InsP3R1. Specifically, we will (1) Investigate biochemical and functional interactions between mutated ataxin-2 protein and InsP3R1; and (2) Evaluate changes in Ca2+ signaling in Purkinje neurons from SCA2-58Q transgenic mouse model. These additional results will provide novel information about Ca2+ signaling abnormalities in SCA2 and may eventually help to develop a cure for this devastating disease. Our results will also help to validate InsP3R1 as potential therapeutic target for SCA2. The funding from ARRA supplement would also help my laboratory to upgrade outdated research equipment and to add an addition research personal to the InsP3R project. As a result, we would be able to increase the tempo of our studies of InsP3R function in the nervous system.
Jobs Summary: N/A (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Not Started
This award's data was last updated on Aug. 14, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
No comments have been added for this project.