Sandra Rieger, Ph.D.,Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (IMAGE)
Caption
New research by MDI Biological Laboratory scientist Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., has demonstrated that an enzyme she had previously identified as playing a role in peripheral neuropathy induced by cancer chemotherapy also plays a role in peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes. The significance of the identification of a common molecular mechanism is that the drug candidates she identified to treat chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy could potentially be used to treat peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes as well. Peripheral neuropathy is a potentially disabling condition affecting up to 40 million Americans that causes, pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet. Treatments exist for alleviating pain, but the development of treatments to prevent or reverse nerve degeneration has been stalled by a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms.
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MDI Biological Laboratory
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