Invitrogen Corporation and Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA) today announced a new collaboration to identify biological targets that are linked to the causes and symptoms of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed. SMA is a genetic disorder that causes a chronic deficiency in the production of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein. This protein is essential to the proper functioning of the motor neurons that originate in the spinal cord, as well as control of muscles in the limbs, neck and chest. In the United States alone there are more than seven million carriers of the genetic risk factors for SMA–and the disease affects approximately one in every 6,000 live births. SMA is usually diagnosed at less than 18 months of age.

The initial stages of this collaboration will be performed by Invitrogen scientists utilizing the company’s proprietary ProtoArray protein microarray technology. Approximately 3,000 human proteins and 5,000 yeast proteins will be rapidly screened as potential targets for SMA therapeutic intervention. This work will build upon the successful identification of compounds that up-regulate SMN levels in an ongoing FSMA sponsored drug discovery program at deCODE Genetics.
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