{"id":26748,"date":"2014-03-20T17:17:49","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T22:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=26748"},"modified":"2014-03-20T17:17:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T22:17:49","slug":"lsu-gets-70000-for-research-into-usher-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/03\/20\/lsu-gets-70000-for-research-into-usher-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU gets $70,000 for research into Usher syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LSU<\/a>LSU gets $70,000 for research into Usher syndrome<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n

March 19, 2014<\/p>\n

NEW ORLEANS (AP) \u2014 Two nonprofits named for children with the most common genetic cause of combined deafness and blindness have given $70,000 to continue research into Usher syndrome at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans.<\/p>\n

The money raised by The Eye on Jacob Foundation of La Canada, Calif., and Helping Hunter of Youngsville, La., goes to the laboratory of research professor Jennifer Lentz.<\/p>\n

Her lab created mice with the gene that causes Usher syndrome in Louisiana\u2019s Cajuns and Canada\u2019s Acadians. Scientists spliced the human gene into the DNA of mice. Descendants of those mice have symptoms very much like Usher patients \u2014 they\u2019re born deaf and with balance problems, and gradually lose their sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy laboratory uses this Usher mouse model to understand the underlying mechanisms that lead to the dual sensory loss associated with Usher syndrome and to develop therapies aimed at preventing or curing deafness and blindness,\u201d Lentz said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Lentz and Chicago Medical School researcher Michelle Hastings reported on an injection that let affected mice hear for months \u2014 though the effects did wear off. The two got a $1.3 million grant last year for four more years of mouse studies.<\/p>\n

According to the National Institutes of Health, one baby in about 25,000 in developed<\/span> countries is born with Usher syndrome. Worldwide, the figure is one in 6,000 to 7,500.<\/p>\n

One mutation accounts for nearly all type 1 cases \u2014 the most severe form \u2014 in people of Acadian heritage.<\/p>\n

The Eye on Jacob Foundation is named for Jacob Desormeaux, son of Louisiana-born jockey Kent Desormeaux. Helping Hunter is named for Hunter Faucheaux, son of Blair and Elise Faucheaux of Youngsville.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

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