TY - JOUR A2 - Doering, Laurie AU - Siller, Saul S. AU - Broadie, Kendal PY - 2012 DA - 2012/05/20 TI - Matrix Metalloproteinases and Minocycline: Therapeutic Avenues for Fragile X Syndrome SP - 124548 VL - 2012 AB - Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common known genetic form of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. FXS patients suffer a broad range of other neurological symptoms, including hyperactivity, disrupted circadian activity cycles, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and childhood seizures. The high incidence and devastating effects of this disease state make finding effective pharmacological treatments imperative. Recently, reports in both mouse and Drosophila FXS disease models have indicated that the tetracycline derivative minocycline may hold great therapeutic promise for FXS patients. Both models strongly suggest that minocycline acts on the FXS disease state via inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a class of zinc-dependent extracellular proteases important in tissue remodeling and cell-cell signaling. Recent FXS clinical trials indicate that minocycline may be effective in treating human patients. In this paper, we summarize the recent studies in Drosophila and mouse FXS disease models and human FXS patients, which indicate that minocycline may be an effective FXS therapeutic treatment, and discuss the data forming the basis for the proposed minocycline mechanism of action as an MMP inhibitor. SN - 2090-5904 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/124548 DO - 10.1155/2012/124548 JF - Neural Plasticity PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -