Sarm1 Pathway: New Therapeutic Targets in Neuropathy

 描述(由申请者提供)：这个有指导的职业发展奖的目标是促进PI向独立的医生-科学家过渡，在神经肌肉医学方面具有临床专业知识，并重点研究周围神经疾病的分子机制。这项拟议的研究将在初级导师Aaron DiAntonio博士的指导下进行，将评估Sarm1作为神经疾病的治疗靶点，确定Sarm1轴突破坏途径的其他组件，并调查Sarm1下游的组件如何与其相互作用以控制轴突变性(AxD)。AxD是大多数神经疾病的一个显著特征，也出现在其他几种神经退行性疾病的早期。然而，目前还没有专门针对轴突变性的治疗方法。最近，人们发现，敲除Toll样受体适配器Sarm1可以显著保护轴突在轴突切断后的急性变性。这清楚地表明Sarm1在介导急性AxD的途径中是一个效应器，并给出了抑制Sarm1及其下游成分可能在治疗上有用的希望。然而，将Sarm1转化为候选疗法的一个主要限制是我们缺乏对其轴突破坏作用的分子机制的了解。鉴于这些考虑，我们提出了一项以以下具体目标为指导的研究计划：1)利用行为学、电诊断和组织病理学方法，确定Sarm1基因敲除是否改善了长春新碱诱导的神经病变；2)利用背根节神经元中基于候选基因的抑制子筛选，识别在Sarm1破坏性途径下游发挥作用的蛋白质。3)使用生化、解剖学和分子遗传学方法，结合活细胞成像，研究Sarm1与最近发现的抑制子(Fbxo7)的功能相互作用。拟议的实验有望揭示AxD以前未知的机制，并确定神经疾病的新治疗靶点。由所要求的资金支持的研究培训将与该协会在神经肌肉医学方面的临床重点相平行，并提供一套技能，并可能提供新的治疗剂，将基础科学发现转化为与神经疾病和可能的其他神经退行性疾病患者相关的治疗策略。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this mentored career development award is to facilitate the PI's transition to independence as a physician-scientist with clinical expertie in neuromuscular medicine and a research emphasis in the molecular mechanisms of peripheral neuropathies. The proposed research, to be conducted under the guidance of primary mentor Dr. Aaron DiAntonio, will evaluate Sarm1 as a therapeutic target in neuropathies, identify other components of the Sarm1 axon destruction pathway and investigate how components downstream of Sarm 1 interact with it and each other to control axon degeneration (AxD). AxD is a prominent feature of most neuropathies and also occurs early in several other neurodegenerative disorders. However, no treatments currently exist that target axonal degeneration specifically. Recently, it was discovered that knocking down the Toll-like receptor adaptor Sarm1 dramatically protects axons from acute degeneration after axotomy. This clearly implicates Sarm1 as an effector in the pathway mediating acute AxD and gives hope that inhibition of Sarm1 and its downstream components may be useful therapeutically. However, a major limitation for translating Sarm1 into candidate therapeutics is our lack of knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that underlie its axodestructive actions. In view of these considerations we propose a research program guided by the following specific aims: 1) Determine, using behavioral, electrodiagnostic and histopathological methods, if Sarm1 knock out ameliorates vincristine induced neuropathy 2) Identify proteins that function downstream in the Sarm1 destructive pathway using a candidate-based suppressor screen in dorsal root ganglion neurons. 3) Investigate the functional interactions of Sarm1 and a recently identified suppressor (Fbxo7) using biochemical, anatomical, and molecular genetics methods in combination with live cell imaging. The proposed experiments are expected to reveal previously unknown mechanisms of AxD and identify new therapeutic targets in neuropathies. The research training supported by the requested funds will parallel the PI's clinical focus in neuromuscular medicine and provide a skill set and possibly new therapeutic agents for translating basic science discoveries into treatment strategies relevant to patients with neuropathies and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases.