| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Sara Mata smata05@tamu.edu Veterinary Integrative Biosciences |
| Faculty Mentor: | Peter Nghiem, DVM, Ph.D. |
|
Meeting Times:
|
Summer 2016 (complete) |
|
Team Size:
|
|
| Open Spots: | 0 |
|
Special Opportunities:
|
Working primarily with dog biopsies with the potential to work with human biopsies. Molecular work, including protein studies, will be performed in the laboratory of Dr. Joe Kornegay at the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building. Potential access and hands-on experience with the dog colony performing pup’s feeding shifts. |
|
Team Needs:
|
BBP and BL2 training is needed. Interest in veterinary medicine and science. Self-motivated students. Ability to keep track of their work. Good communication skills. Ability to analyze data and to work in a team-based environment. |
|
Description:
|
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a X-linked, recessive disorder that affects one in every 5,000 males worldwide. DMD is a muscular illness caused by the lack of expression of dystrophin protein, resulting in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. There is no effective treatment for DMD to date and some studies are conducted on GRMD (a Golden Retriever dog model for DMD) to evaluate pathogenesis and therapies. Current therapeutic trials are focused on alternative proteins to supply the dystrophin function. In this project, the study of Utrophin protein (UTRN) will be the main focus. Utrophin is a protein expressed in early development that gets replaced at early age in healthy muscle by dystrophin. The age related expression of UTRN in GRMD dogs would be studied and compared to DMD biopsies samples as well as the mouse model for DMD (mdx). If the current dog colony located at Texas A&M increases, teaching will be done on feeding and keeping track of dog’s biometrical variances. |