An Oxford scientist has been given a £48,000 grant to fund a two-year investigation into a possible new treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Professor Dame Kay Davies has been given the money by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign for research into the incurable muscle-wasting disease that affects around 2,400 people in the UK. The University of Oxford scientist is one of the UK’s leading researchers into muscular dystrophy, which causes muscle weakness and wasting.
The condition affects mainly boys with symptoms typically appearing around two to three years of age and by age 11 to 12-years-old they usually become dependent on a wheelchair. It affects the heart and breathing muscles and as a result, it is a life limiting condition with life expectancy in the mid-twenties.
Prof Davies hopes to find a drug that can increase the amount of a protein called utrophin in the muscles of boys with the condition. Through testing in animals, scientists have already found that utrophin can compensate for dystrophin, the protein that is missing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and help to prevent the muscle wasting seen in this condition.
She said: “We are delighted with this funding from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign as it will enable us to build on our previous work which demonstrated the proof of principle of finding a drug which increases utrophin levels. We are excited because our improved cell line for screening will help us to find new drugs for increasing utrophin in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.”
This project is one of nine new grants awarded this year by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign for research into neuromuscular conditions. The total amount awarded into new research grants for 2011/2012 is more than £344,000.
