Effect of microbiota on neurodegeneration profiles in ALS C. elegans and mouse models

Trillions of microbes including bacteria, fungi and viruses live on and in the human body in a community called the microbiota. Many of the microbes are friendly and contribute to normal, healthy functions – but others are associated with diseases. For example, changes in the collection of microbes in the respiratory tract have been linked to asthma. Recent scientific evidence has found a link between changes in the microbiota and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease.

To investigate whether the microbiota plays a role in ALS, Audrey Labarre, a PhD student in Dr. Alex Parker’s lab at the Université de Montréal, has been studying ALS worms. Worms are useful models for studying the biology of ALS because they have a short life span, allowing scientists to see quickly how new experimental treatments affect mobility and disease progression. When scientists alter worms by creating a genetic mutation that causes ALS, the worms develop motor neuron degeneration and paralysis. Labarre’s work to date has involved treating ALS worms with probiotics – friendly, live bacteria that are known to be beneficial to the digestive tract. She has found that certain strains of probiotics have resulted in reduced death of motor neurons as well as increased mobility in the worms. In this project, Labarre will treat ALS mice with the same probiotic strains to see if she can find similar results. This research may confirm a link between the microbiota and ALS, paving the way for future therapies that could target the bacterial population in the digestive systems of people living with ALS.