NIH R01 · 2025
Genetic Suppression of SMN Mutations in Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a devastating neuromuscular disease caused by insufficient amounts of SMN protein. SMA is caused by loss or mutation of the SMN1 gene and retention of the SMN2 gene. The SMN2 gene is a modifier of phenotype where milder SMA cases having more copies of SMN2. Rarely SMA patients have a missense mutation in the SMN1 gene. We can use these mutations and the protein domains they disrupt to study the function of the SMN protein. We have shown that SMA missense mutations are not functional by themselves but can function in the presence of some full-length wild-type SMN protein. Furthermore, we have shown that N and C-terminal SMN missense mutations can complement each…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.