FRAXA's primary mission is to speed up progress towards effective treatments and a cure for Fragile X.
As "bottlenecks" are indentified we will try to facilitate solutions, so please contact us for additional resource requests.
FRAXA-sponsored Fragile X Mutant Mouse Facility at Baylor College of Medicine
1/20/2009: Through funding by FRAXA, a Fragile X Mutant Mouse facility has been established at Baylor College of Medicine.
The laboratory of David L. Nelson, Ph.D. is now accepting requests. An extensive array of
mouse strains is available.
As the facility gets up to speed, it is anticipated that in addition to breeding pairs, animals in numbers sufficient for
experimentation as well as tissues will be provided, reducing the need for others to establish their own colonies. These
latter services may require small fees if demand becomes significant. Requesting groups will be expected to reimburse for
shipping charges and for some strains, there will be a Materials Transfer Agreement with Baylor College of Medicine.
Please contact Mercy Chen at mta@bcm.edu to request mice or download the BCM MTA at
www.bcm.edu/research/office.cfm.
Any questions or concerns
regarding the strains can be sent to David Nelson at nelson@bcm.edu.
Knockout Mice may also be available from
Jackson Laboratory.
Antibodies to the Fragile X Protein, FMRP
Several antibodies to
the FMRP are available at nominal cost from the DHSB at the University
of Iowa. Several antibodies to mouse and drosophila fmrp
are available. For details, visit
http://dshb.biology.uiowa.edu/
Reagents: fenobam Available for Pre-Clinical Studies
FRAXA has available a supply of the selective mGluR5 antagonist,
fenobam, for donation to investigators
who wish to test its effects in the FMR1 mouse or
other models of Fragile X, synthesized by Scynexis.
This compound is difficult to work with as it is virtually insoluble.
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Contact Michael Tranfaglia, MD, Medical Director
Human Fragile X cortical neural stem cells available
Human cortical neural stem cells that carry the Fragile X mutation are available for distribution to interested researchers.
These cells are grown as neurospheres and are mainly neural progenitor cells. They can be differentiated into neurons
and astrocytes that lack FMRP with long-term culturing. For more information about these cells please refer to Svendsen
et al., J Neuroscience Methods 85:141-163 (1998), and contact Dr. Anita Bhattacharyya
at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Waisman Center (bhattacharyy@waisman.wisc.edu; www.waisman.wisc.edu/faculty/bhattacharyya.html)
Family Visits
Parents in many parts
of the country would be eager to bring their children, who have
fragile X, to visit a lab. This is an invaluable opportunity
to see what fragile X is really like ... something that is not
truly conveyed in the literature. Contact Katie
Clapp to arrange a visit.
