ST. LOUIS -- The scientist who discovered Sly Syndrome nearly four decades ago and a team of colleagues at Saint Louis University are a step closer to finding an approach to treat the rare genetic disease. Sly Syndrome causes bone defects, mental retardation, vision and hearing problems, heart disease and premature death.

They found that a potentially life-saving enzyme can be induced to cross the blood-brain barrier, a structure which protects the brain from foreign substances, if it is given with the hormone epinephrine.

Ever since William S. Sly, M.D., chairman of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University, discovered the rare genetic disease in 1969, he and his colleagues have conducted research to learn more about how to treat it. He says their recent findings have significance beyond treating the extremely rare disease that bears his name.

There are at most 100 living cases of Sly Syndrome. Nonetheless, this disease is a model for all the diseases in this group, some of which are much more common, Sly says.

Lysosomal storage diseases affect 1 in 7,000 live births, and 90 percent of those with the diseases have brain involvement. What we find with Sly Syndrome has some importance for all those diseases as well. It is potentially a big finding and an important first step.

The discovery potentially points to a new way to get big molecules, such as certain medications, across the blood-brain barrier. It is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition the week of July 16.

SLU researchers found that the right amount of epinephrine probably works by stimulating transport by vesicles blister-like wrappers that carry substances across the blood-brain barrier so that the enzyme missing in patients who have Sly Syndrome can get into the brain.

Those who have Sly Syndrome lack the enzyme called beta-glucuronidase. Without
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Contact: Nancy Solomon
solomonn@slu.edu
314-977-8017
Saint Louis University
25-Jul-2007