Zhen Yan’s research on novel therapeutic strategies for autism has caught the attention of the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, which has funded a $540,000 grant.
Private Foundation Awards Yan $540,000 for Autism Research
Published February 1, 2016 This content is archived.
story based on news release by ellen goldbaum
Zhen Yan, PhD, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, has been awarded a three-year, $540,000 private foundation grant for her work on novel therapeutic strategies for autism.
Rescuing Autism-Like Synaptic and Behavioral Deficits
Yan’s research chronicles how her team reverses certain disruptions of neuronal communication stemming from the deletion of the Shank3 gene, which results in the rescue of autism-like behaviors in an animal model.
The team of scientists found the disruption of this neuronal communication resulted from the dysregulation of actin filaments, a kind of cellular “highway” in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the command center for high-level executive functions and a key region implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Yan and her colleagues discovered that once the activity of certain actin regulators was returned to normal, they were able to restore social behaviors in the Shank3-deficient mouse model of autism.
Applying Findings to Other Genetic Mutations
Yan will use the funding to extend her research by finding an effective treatment for patients with ASD who have genetic deletion or loss-of-function mutations of Shank3.
She also will study how these findings might be applied to treating ASD when other genetic mutations are implicated.
Exclusive Invitation to Submit Research Proposal
Yan was invited by the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation to apply for funding after she published research titled “Autism-Like Deficits in Shank3-Deficient Mice Are Rescued by Targeting Actin Regulators,” in Cell Reports in June 2015.
The foundation invites researchers conducting innovative work to submit proposals. It does not accept unsolicited grant requests.