Mice may hold key to foot disorder

[Guest guest]

I wonder if they know what type CMT these four patients have.

Barb

[Guest guest]

Mice may hold key to foot disorder

http://www.mlive.com/features/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/features-

0/1183387299178850.xml & coll=2

Monday, July 02, 2007

A batch of research mice have helped University of Michigan

researchers locate the gene mutation responsible for a type of

neurological disease that may help establish a genetic test for

people who suffer from the inherited disorder that causes foot

deformities and difficulty walking.

Pale tremor mice, named for their lack of pigment and the unsteady

gait they develop soon after birth, led researchers to the gene

mutation that could cause an estimated 5 percent of the cases of

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder, which affects one in 2,500 people in

the United States. Other gene abnormalities for 70 percent of those

suffering from the disease already are known, according to a U-M

press release.

Scientists looked at 95 patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder

and found four with similar genetic mutations as in the pale tremor

mice.

The research " opens up directions for developing therapies,'' said

Miriam Meisler, author of the study. " Now pharmacologists and drug

developers can target this gene.''

nne Rzepka, News staff reporter