The NIH Senator Paul B. Wellstone Centers are the centerpiece of the nation's effort to reduce morbidity and mortality from muscular disorders and are a major source of discovery and development of more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. The University of North Carolina (UNC) """"""""goal"""""""" of establishing a premier Wellstone Center in the state of North Carolina has assembled a highly interactive research group creating a dynamic program comprised of experienced clinical investigators (Drs. Powers &Wolff), expert basic laboratories (Drs. Samulski, Xiao, and Beecham), and large animal models (Dr. Kornegay) focused on developing, testing, and establishing therapeutic treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and other genetic muscle disorders. A major theme of the Center is to advance novel gene based therapies into the clinic for muscle disorders. The impetus for this effort stems from the fact that UNC Gene Therapy Center (GTC) has made significant strides in recent years to build the foundation that will enable development of a full-scale bench-to-bedside effort bringing gene therapy for DMD closer to a reality (e.g. GMP vector production facility, DMD dog model core). In the spirit of this mission, UNC with support from MDA has independently initiated the first gene-based therapy for DMD using a newly engineered AAV vector (Dr. Samulski) and a mini-dystrophin (dys) gene (Dr. Xiao). A common theme emerging from our Phase I studies and a primary focus of the proposal, relates to establishing a clear understanding of safety and efficacy after treatment with gene based therapeutics and advancing these efforts into selected human clinical trials that will show potential for treatment. Continued discussion with FDA for most efficient and prudent manner to advance our gene therapy based efforts to DMD patients with minimum risk and maximum benefit has lead to the proposed MDCRC Wellstone Center application. The MDCRC will consist of 3 projects (Project 1 PI- Dr. Powers coPI Dr. Wolff -, Project 2 PI-Dr. Xiao, Project 3 PI- Dr. Samulski, (Projects 1-3) and four cores: an Administrative core (PI-Dr. Jude Samulski, Co-PI-Dr. Powers) Training Core, Vector Core (PI Dr. Jeffrey Beecham) and Large animal core (PI- Dr. Kornegay).

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Type
Specialized Center--Cooperative Agreements (U54)
Project #
5U54AR056953-04
Application #
8128561
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAR1-KM-J (M1))
Program Officer
Nuckolls, Glen H
Project Start
2008-09-05
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2011-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$1,398,548
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Chai, Zheng; Samulski, R Jude; Li, Chengwen (2018) Nab Escaping AAV Mutants Isolated from Mouse Muscles. Bio Protoc 8:
Li, Chengwen; Wu, Shuqing; Albright, Blake et al. (2016) Development of Patient-specific AAV Vectors After Neutralizing Antibody Selection for Enhanced Muscle Gene Transfer. Mol Ther 24:53-65
Fan, Zheng; Kocis, Keith; Valley, Robert et al. (2015) High-Pressure Transvenous Perfusion of the Upper Extremity in Human Muscular Dystrophy: A Safety Study with 0.9% Saline. Hum Gene Ther 26:614-21
Fan, Zheng; Wang, Jiahui; Ahn, Mihye et al. (2014) Characteristics of magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers in a natural history study of golden retriever muscular dystrophy. Neuromuscul Disord 24:178-91
Qiao, Chunping; Li, Chengwen; Zhao, Chunxia et al. (2014) K137R mutation on adeno-associated viral capsids had minimal effect on enhancing gene delivery in vivo. Hum Gene Ther Methods 25:33-9
Powers, William J (2014) Intravenous thrombolysis of basilar artery thrombosis. Ann Neurol 75:456-7
Mitchell, Angela M; Hirsch, Matthew L; Li, Chengwen et al. (2014) Promyelocytic leukemia protein is a cell-intrinsic factor inhibiting parvovirus DNA replication. J Virol 88:925-36
Gray, S J; Nagabhushan Kalburgi, S; McCown, T J et al. (2013) Global CNS gene delivery and evasion of anti-AAV-neutralizing antibodies by intrathecal AAV administration in non-human primates. Gene Ther 20:450-9
He, Yi; Weinberg, Marc S; Hirsch, Matt et al. (2013) Kinetics of adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2) and AAV8 capsid antigen presentation in vivo are identical. Hum Gene Ther 24:545-53
Li, Chengwen; He, Yi; Nicolson, Sarah et al. (2013) Adeno-associated virus capsid antigen presentation is dependent on endosomal escape. J Clin Invest 123:1390-401

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