Motor Neurons News and Research

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Researchers examine how toxin triggers motor neuron death

In most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, a toxin released by cells that normally nurture neurons in the brain and spinal cord can trigger loss of the nerve cells affected in the disease, Columbia researchers reported today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

7 Feb 2014

Study offers new avenue to pursue in quest for desperately needed treatments for ALS

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led a study showing that mutations in a gene responsible for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disrupt the RNA transport system in nerve cells.

6 Feb 2014

Neuroscientist, researchers receive Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to name Thomas M. Jessell as the winner of the 2014 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. Awarded annually, the Vilcek Prizes honor the contributions of immigrants to the American arts and sciences, and include $100,000 cash awards.

30 Jan 2014

Scientists receive new awards from CIRM to advance revolutionary stem cell science in medicine

Scientists from UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have received new awards from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell research agency, that will forward revolutionary stem cell science in medicine.

30 Jan 2014

CUMC researchers identify gene that appears to play major role in motor neuron degeneration in ALS

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified a gene, called matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), that appears to play a major role in motor neuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The findings, made in mice, explain why most but not all motor neurons are affected by the disease and identify a potential therapeutic target for this still-incurable neurodegenerative disease. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

23 Jan 2014

NUS scientists open possible new route for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy

A recent study led by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) opens a possible new route for treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a devastating disease that is the most common genetic cause of infant death and also affects young adults.

18 Dec 2013

Measuring changes in certain proteins may better predict the progression of ALS

Measuring changes in certain proteins -- called biomarkers -- in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may better predict the progression of the disease, according to scientists at Penn State College of Medicine.

17 Dec 2013

ALS TDI forms research partnership with Neurimmune to advance potential treatments for ALS

The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Anelixis Therapeutics, announced today that it has formed a research partnership with Neurimmune to advance potential treatments for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

6 Dec 2013

New technological approach may help improve stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases

An international research group has successfully tested the use of a new type of porous material for the efficient delivery of key molecules to transplanted cells derived from stem cells. These results can lead to improvements in the way stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases are treated.

23 Oct 2013

FDA approves Phase II trial to study effect of injected stem cells in ALS patients

Two patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have received stem cell injections to their spinal cords at the University of Michigan Health System - the first two to receive the experimental injections in Michigan as part of a national clinical trial.

10 Oct 2013

Three Penn Medicine researchers awarded grants for neuromuscular disease research

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has awarded research grants totaling over $1,000,000 to three Penn Medicine researchers: James Shorter, PhD, associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Hansell Stedman, MD, associate professor of Surgery; and Lee Sweeney, PhD, director of the Center for Orphan Disease Research and Therapy.

9 Oct 2013

Dog food preservative may prevent nerve damage in patients taking chemotherapy

Working with cells in test tubes and in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a chemical commonly used as a dog food preservative may prevent the kind of painful nerve damage found in the hands and feet of four out of five cancer patients taking the chemotherapy drug Taxol.

20 Sep 2013

Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Evotec Team Up To Take On ALS

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12 Sep 2013

Researchers develop TSUNAMI method to create animal model of adult-onset version of SMA

A research team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has used a recently developed technology they call TSUNAMI to create the first animal model of the adult-onset version of spinal muscular atrophy, a devastating motor-neuron illness.

10 Sep 2013

One-time treatment slows onset and progression of ALS, study finds

Studies of a therapy designed to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis suggest that the treatment dramatically slows onset and progression of the deadly disease, one of the most common neuromuscular disorders in the world.

10 Sep 2013

Basic fibroblast growth factor can protect endplate in motor neurons of injured spinal cord

In current studies, the degeneration and protection measures in the distal end of the injured spinal cord and target organ muscle effector have scarcely been investigated. The distal end of the spinal cord and neuromuscular junction may develop secondary degenera-tion and damage following spinal cord injury because of the loss of neural connections.

7 Sep 2013

Research finding provides blueprint for understanding how the brain communicates with itself

During a normal conversation, your brain is constantly adjusting the volume to soften the sound of your own voice and boost the voices of others in the room.

4 Sep 2013

Brain's tactile and motor neurons shape internal spatial image of body

The brain's tactile and motor neurons, which perceive touch and control movement, may also respond to visual cues, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

27 Aug 2013

Scientists find new links in gene networks that control movement

The idea that worms can be seen as waveforms allowed scientists at Rice University to find new links in gene networks that control movement.

2 Jul 2013

Penn researchers find ALS disease progresses in a stepwise, sequential pattern

The motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, progresses in a stepwise, sequential pattern which can be classified into four distinct stages, report pathologists with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in the Annals of Neurology.

20 Jun 2013