Project: Increasing the expression of frataxin with the CRISPR system

Increasing the expression of frataxin with the CRISPR system. Mitacs (Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 15 years) 2014

Intern: Noëlia Sanchez
Faculty Supervisor: Jacques Tremblay
Project Year: 2014
Province: Quebec
University: Université Laval & Canadian Association of Familial Ataxia
Partner: Feldan inc

Mammalian iron–sulphur proteins: novel insights into biogenesis and function

Mammalian iron–sulphur proteins: novel insights into biogenesis and function. Tracey A. Rouault; Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2014), doi:10.1038/nrm3909 published online 26 November 2014

Fe–S clusters are probably an unrecognized and elusive cofactor of many known proteins.

Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair Factors Promote R-Loop-Induced Genome Instability

Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair Factors Promote R-Loop-Induced Genome Instability. Pages Julie Sollier, Caroline Townsend Stork, María L. García-Rubio, Renee D. Paulsen, Andrés Aguilera, Karlene A. Cimprich; Molecular Cell, Available online 26 November 2014, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.10.020

An enzyme that fixes broken DNA sometimes destroys it instead

An enzyme that fixes broken DNA sometimes destroys it instead. Medicalxpress. November 26, 2014

"Recent work has also implicated these hybrids in neurodegenerative diseases, including Fragile X syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 4," said Julie Sollier, PhD, the lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher. "We would like to explore the potential role of the endonucleases we identified in these diseases as well."

Pain and itch in a dish: Scientists convert human skin cells into sensory neurons

Pain and itch in a dish: Scientists convert human skin cells into sensory neurons. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141125104338.htm (accessed November 26, 2014).

Source: The Scripps Research Institute

These neurons are also affected by spinal cord injury and involved in Friedreich's ataxia.


Journal Reference: Selective conversion of fibroblasts into peripheral sensory neurons. Joel W Blanchard, Kevin T Eade, Attila Szűcs, Valentina Lo Sardo, Rachel K Tsunemoto, Daniel Williams, Pietro Paolo Sanna, Kristin K Baldwin. Nature Neuroscience, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nn.3887

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) and brain function

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) and brain function. Claude-Henry Volmar, Claes Wahlestedt, Neuroepigenetics, Available online 18 November 2014, ISSN 2214-7845, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nepig.2014.10.002.

Very little work has been done regarding the role of HDACs in neurologic disorders; however, a few studies show great promise. HDACs have been proposed as a target against the autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder Friedreich ataxia (FRDA)

Tangled web of interactions among proteins involved in iron-sulfur cluster assembly as unraveled by NMR, SAXS, chemical crosslinking, and functional studies

Tangled web of interactions among proteins involved in iron-sulfur cluster assembly as unraveled by NMR, SAXS, chemical crosslinking, and functional studies. Jin Hae Kim, Jameson R. Bothe, T. Reid Alderson, John L. Markley, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, Available online 22 November 2014, ISSN 0167-4889, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.11.020.

FULL TEXT

Therapeutic strategies in mitochondrial disorders

Therapeutic strategies in mitochondrial disorders . Josef Finsterer, P.S. Bindu, Pediatric Neurology, Available online 15 November 2014, ISSN 0887-8994, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2014.06.023.

Despite the lack of a causal treatment for mitochondrial disorders, a nihilistic attitude towards the treatment issue is not justified. A number of studies are under way to search for causal approaches and highly effective symptomatic measures are available.

Coupling Transcriptional State to Large-Scale Repeat Expansions in Yeast

Coupling Transcriptional State to Large-Scale Repeat Expansions in Yeast . Kartik A. Shah, Ryan J. McGinty, Vera I. Egorova, Sergei M. Mirkin, Cell Reports, Available online 20 November 2014, ISSN 2211-1247, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2014.10.048.

FULL TEXT

The Future of Neuroepigenetics in the Human Brain

The Future of Neuroepigenetics in the Human Brain. Amanda Mitchell, Panos Roussos, Cyril Peter, Nadejda Tsankova, Schahram Akbarian, Chapter Eight - In: Schahram Akbarian and Farah Lubin, Editor(s), Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science, Academic Press, 2014, Volume 128, Pages 199-228, ISSN 1877-1173, ISBN 9780128009772, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800977-2.00008-5.