chaperone therapy

Gene therapy given with chaperones — specific molecules known to stabilize the structure of proteins — was found to enhance the availability of acid alpha-glucosidase, known as GAA, the missing or defective enzyme in Pompe disease (PD), in a mouse model. The treatment subsequently eased disease symptoms, with the…

L-carnitine — a molecule often taken as an oral dietary supplement — boosts the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), increasing by four times the activity of acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA), the faulty enzyme in Pompe disease, in patient-derived cells, a study shows. The molecule was found to stabilize…

Pharmaceutical executives rarely make for a sympathetic Hollywood medical drama. But John Crowley did, and in the nearly 10 years since the release of “Extraordinary Measures” — a tearjerker starring Brendan Fraser as Crowley and Harrison Ford as short-tempered scientist Robert Stonehill — biotech has seen a huge transformation, both…