Ronald Liem, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, N.Y., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $318,264 over a period of three years to study the progression of disease in a mouse model of type 2E Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease.

CMT is the most commonly inherited neurological disorder, affecting 1 in 2,500 people worldwide. It is a slowly progressive disorder, causing degeneration of the peripheral nerves that control sensory information coming from the limbs. CMT2E is caused by mutations in the gene for a protein called neuronal intermediate filament light (NFL). NFL provides stability to axons, the long extensions of muscle-controlling motor nerve cells called motor neurons that allow them to control muscle contractions.

Liem’s lab has created a mouse model of CMT2E by introducing a mutated copy of the gene. Their preliminary results indicate the mouse develops many of the same features as people with the disease, including deficits of movement and hearing. “We believe that this new mouse model is likely the best model of CMT type 2E and will allow us to study the progression of the disease at a level that is not possible in human subjects. We expect that the mouse model will also be useful for testing therapeutic compounds when they become available,” Liem says. 

Liem will be performing detailed developmental and anatomic studies to follow the progression of the disease in mice, and to learn more about exactly how the mutation causes problems. One focus will be on the effects of the mutation on mitochondria, the cell’s "powerhouses," which are believed to be involved in CMT.

“These studies will give us a better understanding of the mechanisms by which nerve damage occurs as a result of this mutation,” Liem says. “We expect that the mouse model also will be useful for testing therapeutic compounds when they become available.”

Funding for this MDA grant began Feb. 1, 2013.