Rare & Orphan Lab · DeCure for X

DeCure for Autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2Q

DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2Q — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.

Disease module1 genesLead labRare & Orphan
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Rare & OrphanDOID:0110285$DeCureRare

The disease map

Disease moduleAutosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2Q maps to a 1-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.

Research record

01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash

Current lead

No approved-drug candidate for autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2q is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.

Molecular view

plectin (PLEC)PLEC is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.

Loading structure…
helix sheet apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom

RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5J1I · 2.801 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.

What the evidence adds up to

The abstracts provided do not describe any drug repurposing study for autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2Q. One 2018 case report of a Saudi patient with dysferlinopathy (LGMD2B) states there is no curative treatment and that steroids and immunosuppressive medications are not effective and may have several side effects. A 2023 update notes that 31 LGMD subtypes are now described, with five autosomal dominant and 26 autosomal recessive forms, and mentions evolving targeted treatment options without naming any specific drug. A 2020 review states that research into gene therapy for recessive muscular dystrophies is concentrating on complementation of defective genes with an extra copy, but again names no drug.

No abstract in this set reports a clinical trial, a repurposed drug, or any measured outcome such as survival or response rate for LGMD2Q. The 1998 abstract excludes linkage to known dominant and recessive LGMD loci in four families, which is a genetic finding with no therapeutic content. The 2018 case report explicitly warns against using steroids and immunosuppressants for dysferlinopathy.

What is still missing is any clinical trial testing a drug for LGMD2Q, any funding for such a trial, any validated biomarker or patient stratification strategy for this specific subtype, and any preclinical evidence of a repurposed compound. The abstracts collectively confirm that no drug therapy is currently established for this condition.

Evidence

Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.

Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation · 2018 · 9 citations

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B: An unusual cause of proximal muscular weakness in Saudi Arabia

AbstractDysferlinopathies encompass a group of neuromuscular diseases characterized by the absence of dysferlin in skeletal muscle. It is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the dysferlin gene (DYSF) with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. In this article, we report a case of Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B with a rare homozygous duplication c.164dupA, p.(Ile57Hisfs*8) (rs863225020) in DYSF in a Saudi patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case from Saudi Arabia with complete clinical data, pathology findings, radiology findings, and genetic analysis. Although there is no curative treatment for this disease, an accurate diagnosis is important to avoid using steroids and immunosuppressive medications, which are not effective and may have several side effects. Further studies are needed to explore potential therapies for this rare condition.

https://doi.org/10.3233/bmr-181129
Human Heredity · 1998 · 4 citations

Exclusion of Identified LGMD1 Loci from Four Dominant Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Families

AbstractThe limb-girdle muscular dystrophies are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders. Recent linkage analyses and positional cloning studies have identified numerous loci responsible for the recessive and dominant forms, underscoring the inherent heterogeneity. In this report, we investigate four large autosomal dominant limb-girdle pedigrees and exclude these pedigrees from linkage to these loci. In addition, there is no evidence for linkage to any of the seven recessive LGMD loci.

https://doi.org/10.1159/000022799
Sri Lanka Journal of Neurology · 2023 · 0 citations · open access

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophies: An update

AbstractLimb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are a heterogenous group of genetically driven muscle disorders, which share the two common features of progressive, predominantly proximal girdle skeletal muscle involvement and dystrophic changes on pathology. This is a rapidly expanding landscape in neurology both in relation to diagnosis as well as evolving targeted treatment options. Thirty-one LGMD subtypes are described to date; five of autosomal dominant inheritance and 26 of autosomal recessive transmission. This article describes their pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis and recent therapeutic advances.

https://doi.org/10.4038/sljon.v10i2.154
Gene Therapy · 2020 · 0 citations

The muscular dystrophies

AbstractThe muscular dystrophies are genetically determined disorders characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of muscle. Research into gene therapy in the muscular dystrophies is presently concentrating on the recessive disorders, with the idea that these might be treated by complementation of the defective genes with an extra copy. The gene responsible for X-linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy was the first defective gene to be isolated in the muscular dystrophies. A number of more direct strategies for genetic therapy of muscular dystrophies are currently being explored. Mutations in each component of the sarcoglycan complex, however, result in variants of autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is characterized by skeletal muscle weakness, joint contractures and a cardiomyopathy with arrhythmia. The recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, LGMD2A, is caused by mutations in a gene on chromosome 15q15 that codes for the muscle-specific calcium-activated neutral protease, calpain-3.

https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003076919-17

Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.

DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.