Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis News and Research

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Early intervention may be crucial to successful treatment of Friedreich's ataxia

New research published today in Disease Models & Mechanisms indicates that early intervention should be a key target in the development of new therapeutics for Friedreich's ataxia, as current treatments may be administered too late to target the disease effectively.

8 Nov 2017

Johns Hopkins scientists report first-ever creation of protein hydrogels inside living cells

Johns Hopkins cell biologists report what they believe is the first-ever creation of tiny protein-based gelatin-like clumps called hydrogels inside living cells.

7 Nov 2017

Researchers discover mechanism that corrects protein misfolding in plants

Various human nervous system diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases, are associated with the same basic disorder: the loss of nerve cells capacity to fold their proteins correctly, which causes protein aggregations that form "clumps" that end up generating the cell death.

25 Oct 2017

Stony Brook University scientist receives $3.9 million NIH grant for ALS research

Stony Brook University scientist Josh Dubnau, PhD, has received a $3.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the impact of environmental stressors and other external factors that contribute to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

24 Oct 2017

Researchers identify strategies to mitigate disturbed axonal transport in ALS patients

A team of researchers at VIB and KU Leuven used stem cell technology to generate motor neurons from ALS patients carrying mutations in FUS. They found disturbed axonal transport in these motor neurons, but also identified genetic and pharmacological strategies that mitigate this defect.

17 Oct 2017

Columbia scientists receive grant from CZI to construct atlas of cells in human spinal cord

Scientists at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute today received a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donor advised fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, to construct an atlas of gene activity of all cells in the human spinal cord.

17 Oct 2017

NIH awards $15 million to develop 3D microphysiological system platforms that model human disease

More than 60 percent of investigational drugs fail in human clinical trials due to a lack of effectiveness, despite promising pre-clinical studies using cell and animal research models.

13 Sep 2017

Scientists directly convert skin cells from healthy adults into motor neurons

Scientists working to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases have been stymied by the inability to grow human motor neurons in the lab. Motor neurons drive muscle contractions, and their damage underlies devastating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, both of which ultimately lead to paralysis and early death.

7 Sep 2017

FDA issues warning letter to US Stem Cell Clinic for significant deviations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today posted a warning letter issued to US Stem Cell Clinic of Sunrise, Florida, and its Chief Scientific Officer Kristin Comella for marketing stem cell products without FDA approval and for significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice requirements, including some that could impact the sterility of their products, putting patients at risk.

28 Aug 2017

Scientists reveal differences between human and murine microglia used in degenerative disease research

The results of a new research showed that many of the genes that are expressed by microglia are different between humans and mice, which are frequently used as animal models in research on Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

18 Aug 2017

Scientists identify basic biological mechanism that kills neurons in ALS

A team led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Mayo Clinic has identified a basic biological mechanism that kills neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in a related genetic disorder, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), found in some ALS patients.

16 Aug 2017

Scientists stop formation of protein clumps linked to ALS and frontotemporal dementia

Scientists report in a new study that by imitating a natural process of cells, they prevented the formation of protein clumps associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia.

8 Aug 2017

JAX receives new federal research grant to study mouse models of ALS

A new five-year federal research grant totaling $3,322,009 to The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) will fund studies of a new mouse model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

4 Aug 2017

Illumina and Bio‑Rad introduce first next-generation sequencing solution for single-cell analysis

Illumina, Inc. and Bio‑Rad Laboratories, Inc. today announced the launch of the Illumina Bio-Rad Single-Cell Sequencing Solution at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, San Francisco.

26 Jul 2017

Scientists uncover new gene therapy treatment routes for motor neurone disease

Scientists investigating the genetic causes and altered functioning of nerve cells in motor neurone disease (MND) have discovered a new mechanism that could lead to fresh treatment approaches for one of the most common forms of the disease.

14 Jul 2017

Scientists shed new light on how tau protein transitions from liquid state to solid tangles

While much about Alzheimer's disease remains a mystery, scientists do know that part of the disease's progression involves a normal protein called tau, aggregating to form ropelike inclusions within brain cells that eventually strangle the neurons.

6 Jul 2017

Genetic factors play significant role in causing ALS, study reveals

Up to 90 percent of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) report that they have no family history of the disease.

22 Jun 2017

Neurofilaments can help in ALS diagnosis

Researchers at VIB, KU Leuven, and UZ Leuven, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Jena, have demonstrated that measuring neurofilaments provides reliable confirmation of an ALS diagnosis.

19 Jun 2017

TSRI scientist and partners receive $7.2 million grant to create new RNA-based treatments for ALS

Professor Matthew Disney of the Department of Chemistry on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, together with scientists from Mayo Clinic's Florida campus and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has been awarded $7.2 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of The National Institutes of Health to create new RNA-based treatments for the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as a type of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

15 Jun 2017

Study shows how RNA splicing errors may trigger development of ALS, FTD

The most frequent genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)- rare and related neurological disorders marked by progressive deterioration of motor or cognitive abilities- may be due to errors in RNA splicing, an intermediary step for translating genetic instructions into functional proteins.

14 Jun 2017