NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Centre of Excellence for the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF Centre) and MRM Proteomics said today that they are collaborating with the Jain Foundation on research into biomarkers for muscular dystrophy.
Specifically, the parties will look for blood-based markers for a rare form of the disease called Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2B or Miyoshi Myopathy, which is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the protein dysferlin.
Under the collaboration, PROOF and MRM Proteomics will conduct a study comparing blood samples from afflicted individuals to those of healthy, age- and gender-matched controls, with the aim of identifying protein and nucleic acid biomarkers that can be used to track disease progression and for research into therapies.
Because no effective treatment for the disease currently exists, it is hoped that biomarkers could be useful in drug development efforts, offering researchers a way to track the efficacy of potential treatments.
"The Jain Foundation was impressed by the success PROOF Centre has had in moving biomarker programs from concept to the clinic, particularly with their recent clinical progress in finding a biomarker for rejection of a transplanted heart," Plavi Mittal, president and CEO of the Jain Foundation, said in a statement. "We believe that pairing MRM Proteomics' cutting edge expertise in mass spectrometry with PROOF's unique clinical biomarker expertise, offers the greatest chance of identifying a biomarker to move our clinical program forward."
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.