News

Researchers at Hacettepe University and Maltepe University in Turkey recently reported that Friedreich’s ataxia patients experience hair alterations. The study was published in the journal Microscopy Research and Technique and is entitled “Ultra-structural hair alterations in Friedreich’s ataxia: A scanning electron microscopic…

An international research team has recently published in the journal BMC Medical Genetics a large cohort analysis of Algerian patients with different forms of ataxia. The study is entitled “Molecular and clinical study of a cohort of 110 Algerian patients with autosomal recessive ataxia”.

BioBlast Pharma Ltd. (NasdaqGM: ORPN), a clinical-stage orphan disease-focused biotechnology company whose mission is to transform excellent science into safe and effective therapies for rare genetic diseases, has recently presented pre-clinical proofs of concept for two of its therapeutic platforms at two important scientific meetings that focus on rare…

Researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) recently conducted a review study on data concerning the link between oxidative stress and inherited mitochondrial diseases like Friedreich’s ataxia. The study was published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine and is entitled “…

Often times, researchers focus on cells from the brain or the heart when studying Friedreich’s ataxia. A new study from Brunel University London and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom chose instead to focus on blood leukocytes and skin fibroblasts from patients with Friedreich’s ataxia. The reasoning was based…

A team led by researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain recently published new data on a gene therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia based on the expression of the human frataxin gene from artificial systems. The study is entitled “Delivery of the 135 kb human…

Horizon Pharma has recently announced it initiated a Phase 3 study evaluating the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of ACTIMMUNE Dose Escalation in Friedreich’s Ataxia study (“STEADFAST”) of ACTIMMUNE (interferon gamma-1b) for the treatment of people with Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA). ACTIMMUNE (Interferon gamma 1-b) is a biologically manufactured protein similar to…

A remarkable new tool in the world of genetic biology is being applied to study Friedreich’s ataxia. TALEN and CRISPR methodologies, which have been the subjects of recent patent battles, are powerful gene modifying techniques that can easily add or remove sequences to mimic the mutations…

Maintaining iron balance in the mitochondria is of great importance to cell health and is a prominent area of study to understand Friedreich’s ataxia. Frataxin protein deficiency in Friedreich’s ataxia leads to accumulation of iron in the mitochondria, leading to extensive reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage and cell death. A group…

Patients with Friedreich’s ataxia are at a high risk for developing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where the walls of the heart become thicker than normal. Little is known about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy disease progression in Friedreich’s ataxia patients, although the condition can be severely life-limiting. To address this lack…