Sanford Bernstein, a professor of biology at San Diego State University in California, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $370,311 over a period of three years. The funds will help support Bernstein's research into the underlying molecular causes of, and potential treatments for, inclusion-body myopathy type 3 (IBM-3).

IBM-3 is caused by a mutation in a protein called myosin, the "molecular motor" that drives muscle contraction.

"Our biochemical and ultrastructural studies have shown that IBM-3 myosin is prone to unfolding and to forming clumps called aggregates," Bernstein said. "Further, muscle appears to respond to the mutant protein by producing autophagosomes, cellular bodies designed to encapsulate and degrade protein aggregates."

Bernstein's team will study the components that comprise the IBM-3 aggregates. Then, in an IBM-3 fruit fly research model that they developed, the investigators will test various approaches aimed at hastening the clearance of protein aggregates and ameliorating defective muscle structure and function in IBM-3.

"IBM-3 is a rare disease, and no model that produces the inclusion bodies we see in our drosophila model has been developed," Bernstein said. "Hence, use of this model presents the current best opportunity to develop a better understanding of the basis of the disease or its possible treatment."

Funding for this MDA grant began February 1, 2012.