2007 Research Grant Awarded

Dr. Heiko Traupe, at University Hospital, Muenster, Germany, has been selected to receive $75,000 for his project titled, "Liposomal packing of recombinant transglutaminase-1 as an essential step toward enzyme replacement therapy of transglutaminase-1 deficient lamellar ichthyosis." Dr. Traupe's objective of the project states that "enzyme replacement therapy has greatly benefited genetic skin diseases such as Fabry disease and holds great promise for transglutaminase-1 (TGase-1) deficient lamellar ichthyosis (LI) and for other genetic types of Ll.The current therapeutic situation for LI is deplorable. We want to change this by developing an enzyme replacement therapy for TGase-1 deficient Ll.The general idea is to develop a cream containing the missing enzyme.