{"id":83104,"date":"2023-01-23T16:03:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T21:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=83104"},"modified":"2026-04-28T17:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:39:02","slug":"brock-industry-partnership-focused-on-treating-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2023\/01\/brock-industry-partnership-focused-on-treating-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock-industry partnership focused on treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brock-Niagara Validation, Prototyping and Manufacturing Institute (VPMI) connects Brock University\u2019s advanced scientific and applied research expertise, state-of-the-art equipment assets, and testing and training capabilities with industry in the bioproducts, bioscience, bioagriculture and chemical manufacturing sectors. Examples of these successful VPMI-industry partnerships are highlighted in this series<\/a>. For more information, contact:\u00a0<\/em>vpmi@brocku.ca<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a genetic condition that takes people young. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness, is a disease Val Fajardo is determined to treat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a cure, affected individuals will live a shortened lifespan,\u201d says the Brock Assistant Professor of Kinesiology. \u201cIn addition to muscle weakness, many patients will experience cognitive impairment, which will further dampen their quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fajardo, who is Canada Research Chair in Tissue Remodelling and Plasticity throughout the Lifespan, studies an enzyme called GSK3.<\/p>\n

While GSK3 is involved in a cell\u2019s metabolism, immunity and differentiation, it can also lead to muscle wasting and declines in heart and brain function if overactivated.<\/p>\n

Fajardo\u2019s ongoing research on how and why this happens, and how to suppress GSK3, led him to contact AMO Pharma Inc<\/a>., a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat neuromuscular and central nervous system (CNS) symptoms of rare diseases.<\/p>\n

The U.K.-based company produces a drug called tideglusib, which has been proven to inhibit GSK3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI connected with AMO Pharma a few years ago because of our shared interest in tideglusib being a GSK3 inhibitor, and I wanted to test its efficacy in treating the muscle damage and weakness that occurs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy,\u201d Fajardo recalls.<\/p>\n

Although their discussions were positive and exciting, the timing for a research partnership wasn\u2019t right, he says.<\/p>\n

His research team stuck with their GSK3 investigations not only within the context of muscular dystrophy but also for other conditions such as obesity<\/a> and spaceflight.<\/p>\n

The American space agency NASA awarded the team two separate batches of muscle samples \u2013 one in 2020<\/a> and another last year<\/a> \u2013 from subjects originally aboard the International Space Station so that the researchers could see what happens to GSK3 and other muscle signalling pathways during spaceflight.<\/p>\n

Also last year, the Canadian Space Agency<\/a> granted Fajardo and his team $150,000 to carry out similar research investigating whether stopping the enzyme GSK3 can prevent space travellers from experiencing muscle loss and weakness, bone fragility and cognitive decline, which occur when spending time in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can figure out ways to stop or slow down muscle loss in space, why not apply that here on Earth for aging or other diseases?\u201d says Fajardo.<\/p>\n

Duchenne muscular dystrophy was at the top of his mind.<\/p>\n