Project:  Greg is studying the different ferlin family members (there are six ferlins in mammals).  Current research suggests that all of the ferlin proteins play roles in vesicle fusion.  Vesicles are like postal packages, delivering proteins from one site in a cell, to another site in a cell.  We want to try and identify the cargo of dysferlin’s vesicle packages, and determine what dysferlin helps deliver to the muscle membrane, that the other ferlins cannot.

This study is important to help identify where membrane repair vesicles come from, what they contain, and whether other ferlins might be able to compensate for dysferlin deficiency in our patients with muscular dystrophy.