Tay-Sachs Disease

Hypothesis: To characterize and describe disease progression and heterogeneity of the gangliosidosis diseases. This research study seeks to develop a quantitative method to delineate disease progression for the gangliosidosis diseases (Tay-Sachs disease, Sandhoff disease, and GM1 gangliosidosis) in order to better understand the natural history and heterogeneity of these diseases. Such a quantitative method will also be essential for evaluating any treatments that may become available in the future, such as gene therapy. The data from this study will be necessary to provide end-points for future therapies, guide medical decisions about treatment, provide objective measurement of treatment outcomes, and accurately inform parents regarding potential outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to understand the course of rare genetic disorders that affect the brain. This data is being analyzed to gain a better understanding of the progression of the rare neurodegenerative disorders and the effects of interventions.

The primary objective of the study is to determine the safety and feasibility of intrathecal administration of DUOC-01 as an adjunctive therapy in patients with inborn errors of metabolism who have evidence of early demyelinating disease in the central nervous system (CNS) who are undergoing standard treatment with unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). The secondary objective of the study is to describe the efficacy of UCBT with intrathecal administration of DUOC-01 in these patients.