Motor Neurons News and Research

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Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have deciphered code for motor neuron wiring

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have deciphered a key part of the regulatory code that governs how motor neurons in the spinal cord connect to specific target muscles in the limbs.

7 Nov 2005

Northwestern University move closer to new therapies for neurodegenerative disease

French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot first described amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1869, but, nearly 140 years later, little is known about the cause of the devastating neurodegenerative disease, and there is no cure.

27 Oct 2005

Ubiquitin ligase Rnf6 may be involved in oncogenesis

In a recent study, Dr. Ingolf Bach and colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester and the University of Hamburg describe a novel role for the ubiquitin/proteosome protein degradation pathway in the regulation of local actin dynamics in neurons.

3 Oct 2005

New study points to new treatments for some forms of Lou Gehrig's disease

A new study indicates that mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) enzymes that are associated with an inherited form of Lou Gehrig's disease cause the protein to become sticky in tissues. Partial unfolding of the mutant protein can expose hydrophobic residues that may promote abnormal interactions with other proteins or membranes in the cell.

11 Aug 2005

Research moves us closer to understanding how complicated network connections are wired up during embryonic development

A newborn baby moves, breathes and cries in part because a network of nerves called motor neurons carry signals from the infant's brain and spinal cord to muscles throughout its body.

3 Jun 2005

Insights could yield new approaches to nerve regeneration

Nervous system development requires billions of neurons to migrate to the appropriate locations in the brain and grow nerve fibers (axons) that connect to other nerve cells in an intricate network.

20 Apr 2005

Researchers insert engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats

Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.

19 Apr 2005

RNA interference as promising therapy for ALS

Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have used RNA interference in transgenic mice to silence a mutated gene that causes inherited cases of amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), substantially delaying both the onset and the progression rate of the fatal motor neuron disease.

13 Mar 2005

Psychiatric illness drugs may protect the brain cells that die in people with Huntington's disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that drugs commonly used to treat psychiatric illnesses and blood disorders in humans may protect the brain cells that die in people with Huntington's disease, possibly delaying the onset and slowing the progression of the disease.

31 Jan 2005

Scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons

After years of trial and error, scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons, critical nervous system pathways that relay messages from the brain to the rest of the body.

30 Jan 2005

Vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk for death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the American Cancer Society have found that regular use of vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk for death from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

21 Dec 2004

Indoprofen may lead to new treatments for spinal muscular atrophy

A drug withdrawn from pharmacy shelves over 20 years ago may point the way to a new treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, a muscle-wasting and often life-threatening childhood disease.

29 Nov 2004

Human primitive spinal cord cells may delay symptoms and paralysis associated with Lou Gehrig's disease

Human primitive spinal cord cells delayed symptoms and paralysis by a week when implanted in the spinal cord of rats destined to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, researchers from Johns Hopkins report.

24 Oct 2004

Newly completed Chromosome 5 sequence will be a powerful tool for scientists trying to understand human disease

Four years after publicly revealing the official draft human genetic sequence, researchers have reached the halfway point in dotting the i's and crossing the t's of the genetic sentences describing how to build a human.

16 Sep 2004

Adenosine triphosphate is a culprit in causing the devastating damage of spinal cord injury

ATP - adenosine triphosphate, the vital energy source that keeps our body’s cells alive, runs amok at the site of a spinal cord injury, pouring into the area around the wound and killing the cells that normally allow us to move, scientists report in the cover story of the August issue of Nature Medicine.

29 Jul 2004

New hereditary spastic paraplegia research

In work reported this week, researchers have taken our understanding of HSP to a new level with the development of an animal model for the disease.

13 Jul 2004

Mitochondria in spinal cords is Lou Gehrig’s disease target according researchers

The selective killing of spinal cord neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, occurs when tiny cellular components called mitochondria actively recruit a mutant disease-causing protein into specific neuron cells, according to new research by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine investigators.

9 Jul 2004

Discovery of gene that causes a rare juvenile-onset form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

The discovery of the Senataxin gene, on chromosome 9q34, may provide clues to the mechanisms of related brain disorders. The study appears in the June 2004 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

28 Jun 2004

Artificial vibration has potential to help stroke patients recover their mobility more quickly

By artificially vibrating certain muscle parts, the brain areas and neuronal pathways responsible for movement can be trained. This has the potential to help stroke patients recover their mobility more quickly. These are the results of PhD research by Maarten Steyvers of the Department of Kinesiology, K.U.Leuven.

15 Jun 2004

Neuroscientists have overcome a major obstacle in gene therapy research

Northwestern University neuroscientists have overcome a major obstacle in gene therapy research. They've devised a method that will safely deliver and regulate expression of therapeutic genes introduced into the central nervous system to treat Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

5 Jun 2004