Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis News and Research

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Researchers identify motor neuron toxin associated with ALS

An international team of investigators has discovered that an inorganic polyphosphate released by nerve cells known as astrocytes in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) contributes to the motor neuron death that is the signature of these diseases.

10 Mar 2022

€10 million ‘precision medicine’ research project launched to provide new insights into ALS

An ambitious academic, clinical and industry research programme that will provide new insights into our understanding of Motor Neuron Disease (MND), also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), was launched today by Tánaiste and Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D.

1 Mar 2022

First platform trial for ALS hopes to accelerate the development of effective treatments

A new paper in Annals of Neurology describes the approach, structure, and launch of the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial– the first platform trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) designed to accelerate the development of effective and breakthrough treatments for people with the illness.

28 Feb 2022

Novel molecular pathway shared by two neurodegenerative disorders discovered

Scientists from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia.

28 Feb 2022

Mapping cells to understand vascular disease

In this interview, we speak to Dr. Ethan Winkler and Dr. Tomasz Nowakowski about their latest research which illustrated the interplay between vascular and immune cells that contributes to brain hemorrhage.

25 Feb 2022

Research reveals why a common genetic variant worsens outcomes for people with ALS and FTD

A pioneering new study led by UCL and National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists has revealed, for the first time, why a common genetic variant worsens disease outcomes for people with the devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

24 Feb 2022

Hyperactive microglia can have a protective effect in the course of neurodegenerative diseases

Findings by researchers from Germany support the view that hyperactive immune cells in the brain can have a protective effect in the course of neurodegenerative diseases.

14 Feb 2022

Nine new Discovery Grants awarded to fuel the development of ALS treatments

With promising new therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on the horizon, now is the time for ongoing investment in research discovery that will continue to fuel the development of treatments.

10 Feb 2022

Winners of the first CERF Medical Engineering Prize for ALS Research announced

The Cullen Education and Research Fund announced the recipients of the first CERF Medical Engineering Prize for ALS Research: Dr. Leigh Hochberg, Dr. Conor Walsh, and Dr. Sabrina Paganoni.

8 Feb 2022

New cloud-based data resource helps researchers to identify subtypes of ALS

A new cloud-based data resource co-developed by scientists at Cedars-Sinai provides the research community with a comprehensive set of tools to help identify new subtypes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurological disorder.

4 Feb 2022

Blood tests may enable simpler, more accurate early diagnosis of ALS

Blood tests may enable more accurate diagnosis of ALS at an earlier stage of the disease. As described in a study by researchers at University of Gothenburg and Umeå University, it involves measuring the blood level of a substance that, as they have also shown, varies in concentration depending on which variant of ALS the patient has.

28 Jan 2022

Novel experimental drug designed to silence FUS gene may help treat ALS

Using an experimental drug, researchers were able to suppress a mutated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) gene.

24 Jan 2022

Eikonoklastes completes a license to add novel gene therapy for treating neurodegenerative diseases

Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced it has completed a license with the University of California San Diego to add a novel gene therapy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

20 Jan 2022

Scientists reveal toxic astrocyte changes in ALS

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have revealed harmful changes in supporting cells, called astrocytes, in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in two publications in Brain and Genome Research.

19 Jan 2022

Machine learning model identifies new risk genes for motor neurone disease

Scientists have developed a new machine learning model for the discovery of genetic risk factors for diseases such as Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

18 Jan 2022

Novel biomarker can be used to identify disease progression in ALS

An international collaboration led by Flinders University has identified a potential biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Motor Neuron Disease, providing a way to test the effectiveness of future clinical trials.

13 Jan 2022

Study finds evidence for increased activity of the brain’s immune system long before dementia onset

Long before the onset of dementia, there is evidence for increased activity of the brain's immune system. Researchers from DZNE and the University Hospital Bonn come to this conclusion based on a study of more than 1,000 older adults.

12 Jan 2022

Decoding imagined language to treat people suffering from aphasia

What if it were possible to decode the internal language of individuals deprived of the ability to express themselves? This is the objective of a team of neuroscientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva.

11 Jan 2022

A new paradigm is needed: Top experts question the value of advance care planning

For decades, Americans have been urged to fill out documents specifying their end-of-life wishes before becoming terminally ill — living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders, and other written materials expressing treatment preferences.

6 Jan 2022

Single-patient pilot study shows the ability of antisense oligonucleotide to suppress mutant ALS gene

Using a short, synthetic chain of chemically modified nucleotides engineered in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, Jonathan Watts, PhD, and colleagues have shown the ability to suppress mutant forms of an ALS gene known as C9ORF72 in a single-patient pilot study.

24 Dec 2021