News

MDCenter Open House and Lab Tour

Join us for demonstrations of muscle structure and function and see how we are combating muscular dystrophy. The MDCenter Open House and Lab Tour will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2008 from 9am-12pm. This event will be held at the University of Minnesota East Bank, Nils Hasselmo Hall 2-101, located on 312 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 next to the Coffman Memorial Student Union.
10am-11am- Overview of the MDCenter, muscle and stem cell research presentations, Nils Hasselmo Hall 2-101
9am-10am and 11am-12pm- Open House-Demonstrations, Nils Hasselmo Hall
Refreshments will be provided

A study identified the importance of a gene critical to normal muscle function, resulting in a new mouse model. By knocking out the gene in mice that encodes the protein gamma actin (a protien found in normal muscle cells), Jim Ervasti, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics and his team discovered that knocking out gamma actin allowed for muscle formation in mice, but impaired muscle cell function leading to muscle death.

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Clinical Training Research Grant Awarded to Peter Karachunski, M.D. (2006)

The Muscular Dystrophy fellow, Peter Karachunski, M.D. is a recipient of the Clinical Research Training Grant (CT-RG) awarded annually by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to only two qualified recipients.  Duration of this grant is for two years and includes training and course work in clinical research program, clinical activities such as participating in the Muscular Dystrophy clinic, neurophysiology, reading of muscle biopsies and research.  According to MDA, the CR-TG is designed to provide clinicians the research training opportunities needed to become productive clinical investigators in neuromuscular disease research.

Ataxia article (Medical Bulletin, 2006)

MDCenter researchers in collaboration with other investigators have discovered the gene responsible for a type of ataxia, an incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination. The finding has historical implications as well: The gene has been identified in at least 11 generations of President Abraham Lincoln's family.  Dr. Laura Ranum, the MDCenter research director and professor of genetics, cell biology, and development states

"Finding the genes that cause ataxia provides an immediate benefit for those who want to know if they will develop the disease or pass on the gene to their children," she says, "but our long-term goal is to find a cure."

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James Ervasti, Ph.D. to join the MDCenter

Dr. James Ervasti is a recognized expert on the biochemistry of dystrophin and utrophin, as well as a premier investigator of the molecular and cellular effects of these proteins and their absence in order to better understand muscular dystrophies. Ervasti is a renowned investigator who is currently a professor in the department of physiology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. James Ervasti will join the MDCenter on September 1, 2006.

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