'Fly guy' makes memory breakthrough(without the FMR1 gene really weren't ope...)

A well-functioning FMR1 gene is thought to help "quiet" new protein synthesis in the brain, enabling normal mental performance. After four years of research, Bolduc was not only able to demonstrate the cognitive deficiencies of fruit flies without a FMR1 gene, he was also able to show that adding more of the Fragile X protein than is normal in a fruit fly's brain also debilitated its mental capacity. He also identified the pathways that interfered with the function of the protein, and he determined where in the flies' brains the protein functioned. Perhaps most significantly, he enhanced memory performance in Fragile X flies by pharmaceutically decreasing protein synthesis. Fragile X flies that were fed drugs that reduced the production of protein in the brain remembered to avoid the smell associated with a shock almost as much as the normal flies.

The next step, he said, is to translate the findings into the creation of drugs to treat the condition in human patients.

"Right now there is no medical treatmentabsolutely nothing that we can use routinely in the clinicso we have a long way to go. We're probably about 10 years away, but I think we're on the right track," said Bolduc, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics.

Bolduc also believes the new knowledge of the FMR1 gene will likely apply to a number of other syndromes involving reduced cognitive function.

"This type of brain research is vital in the future," he said. "The FMR1 gene is complicated, and a lot of things can go wrong with it. We've answered a few basic questions, but there is still a lot to be discovered."

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