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Translational research spans from gene identification to definition of a target for therapeutic intervention. Here two examples of a translational approach are discussed in two diseases of the motor unit: Cowchock syndrome, a X-linked neuropathy with deafness and mental retardation, and Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, a X-linked polyglutamine disease. In the first part, by using the means of next generation sequencing, a novel mutation in AIFM1 gene is identified in a large Italian-American family and its functional consequences on the encoded protein are investigated. In the second part, the efficacy of treatment with recombinant human IGF-1 in complex with IGFBP-3 is established in cellular and animal models of Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, based on the evidence that IGF-1 is able to counteract the toxicity by targeting the mutant protein, Androgen Receptor, for degradation.

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Dr. Carlo Rinaldi is a Research Fellow at University of Oxford, UK. He has a deep interest in understanding the mechanisms of neuromuscular diseases and envisions a career as a Clinician-Scientist. Dr. Rinaldi is fully committed to embrace the challenge of his generation of health care providers: finding a cure for these yet untreatable diseases.

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