$98,400 awarded to Dr. Stefano Stifani at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University.
The primary symptoms of ALS are caused by degeneration of motor neurons. Abnormalities in other cells called glia that surround motor neurons also play an underlying role in ALS disease processes. Therefore, understanding the unique contribution of each cell type is important for developing effective treatments.
For this project, Dr. Stefano Stifani will collaborate with three colleagues at McGill University: Dr. Guy Rouleau, Dr. Carlo Santaguida and Dr. Luke Healy. Using a powerful new technology called single-cell RNA sequencing, they will focus on motor neurons, as well as two types of glia called astrocytes and microglia.
Dr. Stifani and colleagues will analyze spinal cord tissue generously donated by ten people with ALS and ten people without ALS. What sets this project apart from other ALS research using single-cell RNA sequencing is that these scientists will use spinal cord tissue that has not been previously frozen. The Montreal Neurological Institute has set up a program that allows scientists to analyze unfrozen autopsy tissue from people who choose to donate their bodies to scientific research.
The researchers believe that unfrozen spinal cord tissue may be better for research purposes because freezing and thawing tissue samples can cause changes that are not due to disease processes. New insights about disrupted biological processes in cells surrounding motor neurons may provide new information about ALS.