Motor Neurons News and Research

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New initiative focuses on patients with the rarest of gene mutations to develop personalized ALS therapies

A new initiative, Silence ALS, will develop experimental personalized therapies to treat patients with rare genetic forms of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

10 May 2022

Exploring oncolytic viral therapeutics and immunotherapies derived from DNA and RNA

A new review initially described the developments in cancer-based medicines that included vaccinations, vector-based techniques, and genome injection using DNA and RNA-based nucleic acid therapeutics.

28 Apr 2022

Researchers find possible window of opportunity to target astrocyte abnormalities during ALS treatment

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects as many as 30,000 people in the United States, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year. It weakens muscles over time, impacting physical function and ultimately leading to death.

29 Mar 2022

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

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

Scientists discover how a rare genetic disorder disrupts key neural interactions in the developing brain

Every time you chew, talk, yawn, or sense the zap of a toothache, cranial nerve cells are shuttling electrochemical signals to your brain.

23 Feb 2022

Scientists discover a new class of potential drug targets for neurodegenerative diseases

Oregon State University scientists have discovered a new class of potential drug targets for people suffering from neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease.

10 Feb 2022

Researchers develop 3D human spinal cord implants for treating paralyzed patients

For the first time in the world, researchers from Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University have engineered 3D human spinal cord tissues and implanted them in lab model with long-term chronic paralysis.

7 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

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

Mice study identifies ventral spinocerebellar tract neurons that control locomotion

For more than a century, scientists have known that while the commands that initiate movement come from the brain, the neurons that control locomotion once movement is underway reside within the spinal cord.

20 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

Model of neuromuscular junction could accelerate new treatments for neuromuscular diseases

The neuromuscular junction-;where nerves and muscle fibers meet-;is an essential synapse for muscle contraction and movement.

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

Study may lead to effective strategies for rehabilitation of children with arthrogryposis

HSE academics joined researchers from the Turner Scientific Research Institute for Children's Orthopaedics to study how the brains of children with arthrogryposis control elbow flexion after muscle transplantation.

23 Dec 2021

Study analyzes the role of circular RNA in ALS pathology

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS, is a neurodegenerative disorder which affects motor neurons. These are the neuronal cells responsible for muscle innervation, whose degenerations leads to progressive paralysis culminating with motor and respiratory failure.

21 Dec 2021

Targeting the brain should be the focus of ALS therapy, not just spinal cord

The brain is indeed a target for treating ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered.

4 Dec 2021

Inflammatory chemicals involved in fat metabolism play key role in ALS, study shows

A new study using genetically engineered mice and human cell and tissue samples has added to evidence that higher levels of inflammatory chemicals involved in fat metabolism occur in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neuromuscular disorder, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

15 Nov 2021

Special bioactive scaffolds lead to greater functional recovery from spinal cord injury in mice

In mice with a spinal cord injury, mixing materials including bioactive sequences formed a polymer meshwork that improved axon regrowth, angiogenesis, and neuronal cell survival.

11 Nov 2021