Objetivo
Alpha-Mannosidosis is a rare inborn disorder caused by the lack of the lysosomal enzyme a-Mannosidase, resulting in mental retardation, skeletal changes, hearing loss and recurrent infections. The children are often born apparently normal, and their conditions worsen progressively, without any possibility to prevent this evolution. In the children that are born healthy, a therapy initiated at an early age could contribute to a normal development. Today, the most promising therapy for lysosomal storage disorders is enzyme replacement therapy (ERT); where the enzyme lacking in the patient is introduced into the blood stream, from where it is internalised by the cells and reaches the lysosomes, acting as the endogeneous enzyme. ERT products are on the market today for diseases such as Gaucher and Fabry and clinical trials are underway for a number of other diseases. Within the 5th EU framework the collaboration EURAMAN succesfully established an enzyme replacement therapy for a mouse model of Alpha-Mannosidosis. A correction of storage in many tissues including brain was found after administration of lysosomal acid a-Mannosidase (LAMAN) from bovine kidney, and human and mouse recombinant LAMAN. An application for the designation of human rhLAMAN as an Orphan Drug has been submitted.
In the HUE-MAN proposal, the main objective is to transfer and expand the knowledge obtained from the EURAMAN project studies to investigate and establish clinical parameters in the mouse model and a natural history study of the human disease in order to define clinical endpoints for the future clinical trials in a-Mannosidosis.
Furthermore, in parallel, HUE-MAN will upscale the production of rhLAMAN and perform the initial toxicology studies that can pave the way for a First Clinical Trial in Man.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugs
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinetoxicology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsenzymes
Convocatoria de propuestas
FP6-2004-LIFESCIHEALTH-5
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Régimen de financiación
STREP - Specific Targeted Research ProjectCoordinador
KIEL
Alemania