Dr. Fitch’s lab has found that the Angelman syndrome mouse model has fewer vocalizations (communication) than typically developing mice. This project proposes to find the brain circuitry responsible for the reduced communication in mice. Preliminary studies suggest it is probably […]
Read more$10,000 The gene that is defective in AS is UBE3A and in 70% of individuals who have AS this gene and genes nearby it are deleted from chromosome 15. This project sought to determine if one of the adjacent genes […]
Read more
Approximately 90% of males diagnosed with Christianson syndrome (CS) meet research criteria for a clinical diagnosis of Angelman syndrome (AS). CS is caused by loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in the X-linked, endosomal Na+/H+ exchanger 6 (NHE6) and was originally termed “X-linked […]
Read more
$80,000 The mouse model provides an ideal way to evaluate therapeutic attempts to increase UBE3A function on the otherwise silenced paternally-derived mouse chromosome. Using novel genetic engineering methods, Dr. Beaudet and his lab were able to develop a engineered mouse […]
Read more
$50,000 There is a small amount of anecdotal experience and some neuroscience studies suggesting that levodopa might have therapeutic effect on the symptoms of AS. The Angelman mouse model is an ideal way to study this before developing any human […]
Read more$110,000 The ASF Joseph Wagstaff Postdoctoral Research Fellowship was granted to its first recipient. Dr. King will do his postdoctoral research on a new drug UNCilencer1, which turns on the silenced paternal UBE3A gene in mouse neurons. UNCilencer1 is a […]
Read more
It remains unclear which brain areas (and hence which cellular changes) directly contribute to phenotypes of AS. Knowledge of the critically affected brain areas is important for two reasons: 1) it will help us to identify the most relevant mechanisms […]
Read more$45,547 Dr. Wagstaff was one of the crucial investigators who discovered that UBE3A disruption was the cause of AS. With funds from this and other projects he was able to develop a mouse model for AS and this important development […]
Read more