FARA - Scientific News

Scientific News

FARA funds research progress

In this section, you will find the most recent FA research publications, many of which are funded by FARA, as well as information on upcoming conferences and symposiums. You can search for articles by date using the archive box in the right hand column. To locate FARA Funded or Supported Research, click the hyperlink in the right hand column. You may also search for specific content using key words or phrases in the search button at the top right of your screen. Please be sure to visit other key research sections of our website for information on FARA’s Grant Program and the Treatment Pipeline.

Two New Pimelic Diphenylamide HDAC Inhibitors Induce Sustained Frataxin Upregulation in Cells from Friedreich's Ataxia Patients and in a Mouse Model

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most common recessive ataxia in Caucasians, is due to severely reduced levels of frataxin, a highly conserved protein, that result from a large GAA triplet repeat expansion within the first intron of the frataxin gene (FXN). Typical marks of heterochromatin are found near the expanded GAA repeat in FRDA patient cells and mouse models. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) with a pimelic diphenylamide structure and HDAC3 specificity can decondense the chromatin structure at the FXN gene and restore frataxin levels in cells from FRDA patients and in a GAA repeat based FRDA mouse model, KIKI, providing an appealing approach for FRDA therapeutics.

Two New Pimelic Diphenylamide HDAC Inhibitors Induce Sustained Frataxin Upregulation in Cells from Friedreich's Ataxia Patients and in a Mouse Model

A high throughput electrochemiluminescence assay for the quantification of frataxin protein levels

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease affecting 1 in 50,000 people and is caused by a GAA-trinucleotide expansion in the frataxin gene located on chromosome locus 9q13 which results in a markedly reduced expression of frataxin, a small mitochondrial protein. The exact function of frataxin is still unknown and currently there is no approved treatment available. In the near future there will be a high demand for measuring frataxin protein levels due to the development of therapeutic strategies for FRDA based on manipulating frataxin expression levels in vivo.

A high throughput electrochemiluminescence assay for the quantification of frataxin protein levels

Altered Gene Expression and DNA Damage in Peripheral Blood Cells from Friedreich''s Ataxia Patients: Cellular Model of Pathology

The neurodegenerative disease Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common autosomal-recessively inherited ataxia and is caused by a GAA triplet repeat expansion in the first intron of the frataxin gene. In this disease, transcription of frataxin, a mitochondrial protein involved in iron homeostasis, is impaired, resulting in a significant reduction in mRNA and protein levels. Global gene expression analysis was performed in peripheral blood samples from FRDA patients as compared to controls, which suggested altered expression patterns pertaining to genotoxic stress.

Altered Gene Expression and DNA Damage in Peripheral Blood Cells from Friedreich''s Ataxia Patients: Cellular Model of Pathology

Measuring the rate of progression in Friedreich ataxia: Implications for clinical trial design

Friedreich ataxia is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia of all four limbs, dysarthria, and arreflexia. A variety of measures are currently used to quantify disease progression, including the Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale, examiner-rated functional disability scales, self-reported activities of daily living and performance measures such as the timed 25-foot walk, 9-hole pegboard test, PATA speech test, and low-contrast letter acuity vision charts.

Measuring the rate of progression in Friedreich ataxia: Implications for clinical trial design