Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

A gene therapy delivering instructions to produce the neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) protein to muscle cells improved muscle function and eased defects in nerve and muscle structure of a mouse model of severe Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D (CMT2D), a study found. These results support an NT-3 gene therapy as a potential treatment…

A new partnership is seeking to identify people with a mutation in the sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD) gene — the cause of a newly identified type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) — who may be eligible for clinical trials investigating potential treatments for this recessive subtype. In this collaboration, the Charcot–Marie–Tooth…

The Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (CMTA) and Addex Therapeutics are teaming up to investigate a potential oral therapy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A), in rodent models of the disease. Established under the association’s Strategy to Accelerate Research (STAR), the collaboration’s goal is to study the benefits of Addex’s proprietary technology —…

The CMT Research Foundation (CMTRF) is closing out its September CMT Action Month program with a virtual convention, a $10 million research campaign, and a partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association — all aimed at boosting collaborations and research to find a cure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. According…

Mutations in the GARS gene — found in people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D (CMT2D) — halt the first steps of protein production, new research shows. Specifically, the mutations cause ribosomes — the factories where proteins are assembled — to stall protein production. Therapies that can overcome this ribosome-pausing…

A potential gene therapy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) has shown promising results in a two-year study using a mouse model of the disease. According to a press release from the CMT Research Foundation, which is funding the study, the gene therapy led to marked reductions in…

Scientist Jun Li has won a $246,172 grant to develop new MRI biomarkers to assess disease progression and response to treatment in people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A). The grant, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, will fund a project…

The CMT Research Foundation has teamed up with AcuraStem and scientist Alessandra Bolino, PhD, to test potential new therapies for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4B1 (CMT4B1), a severe form of the disease with early onset. CMT4B1 is caused by mutations in the gene MTMR2, which is involved in the…

Ahead of this year’s Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill, held virtually July 14–22, the EveryLife Foundation will award grants to top advocates of rare disease organizations who participate in the week’s pre-events. The top 50 point-earners will be eligible to win $1,000 to $5,000in  grants, totaling up…

Scientists have pinpointed a new genetic mutation in the PMP22 gene as the cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 3 (CMT3) in a 26-year-old Chinese man. Titled “A novel PMP22 insertion mutation causing Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 3,” the case report was published in the journal Medicine. The…