The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have announced the funding of three new Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers, which will focus on this group of genetic muscle-wasting diseases.
The center at the University of Pennsylvania is codirected by H. Lee Sweeney, PhD, and Kathryn R. Wagner, MD, PhD, of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and will search for new strategies for treating a variety of muscular dystrophies (MDs). Studies involve exploring ways to increase muscle growth and on compounds to inhibit enzymes involved in breaking down muscle tissue. Clinical trials will determine the safety and efficacy of a potential drug treatment for Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD). The core facility is a muscle physiology laboratory that will study MD mouse models. Also involved with this center are the University of Florida, Gainesville, and the NINDS Intramural Research Program.
Eric P. Hoffman, PhD, and Diana M. Escolar, MD, of Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, will study biochemical pathways that contribute to DMD. Their clinical project will attempt to identify genetic modifiers of the disease, whereas laboratory studies will focus on muscle cell damage and muscle growth and remodeling in mice. Also collaborating with this center is the University of Padova in Italy.
The center at the University of Iowa is directed by Kevin P. Campbell, PhD, and Steven A. Moore, MD, PhD, and will study therapeutic strategies for various muscular dystrophies. Projects will focuses on potential embryonic stem cell treatment in mice and muscle membrane maintenance and repair, whereas a third involves people with fukutin-related protein MD. The center cores at the University of Iowa will also serve as a national resource for human muscle biopsies, fibroblast cell cultures, and embryonic stem cells for MD researchers and will provide advanced services for diagnosing the different dys-trophies.
These institutions are joining three other centers: the University of Washington, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Rochester, all of which are already funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The centers have come from the Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education (MD-CARE) Act passed by Congress in 2001 and work both individually and collaboratively. They are guided by a steering committee that includes representatives from each center. Each has both basic and clinical research projects and one or more core facilities to support them. The centers must also make core resources or services available to the national MD research community.