Understanding and Treating Niemann-Pick Type C Disease: Models Matter
Summary
Biomedical research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms causing human diseases and to develop curative therapies. So far, these goals have been achieved for a small fraction of diseases, limiting factors being the availability, validity, and use of experimental models. Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) is a prime example for a disease that lacks a curative therapy despite substantial breakthroughs. This rare, fatal, and autosomal-recessive disorder is caused by defects in NPC1 or NPC2. These ubiquitously expressed proteins help cholesterol exit from the endosomal-lysosomal system. The dysfunction of either causes an aberrant accumulation of lipids with patients presenting a large range of disease onset, neurovisceral symptoms, and life span. Here, we note general aspects of experimental models, we describe the line-up used for NPC-related research and therapy development, and we provide an outlook on future topics.
| Authors | Pallottini V, Pfrieger FW |
|---|---|
| Journal | International journal of molecular sciences |
| Publication Date | 2020 Nov 26;21(23) |
| PubMed | 33256121 |
| PubMed Central | PMC7730076 |
| DOI | 10.3390/ijms21238979 |