$100,000 awarded to Dr. Mohan Babu at the University of Regina.
Proteins are large molecules that do most of the work inside the body. They are responsible for building, operating and regulating all tissues and organs. They often work together to accomplish their tasks in processes called protein-protein interactions.
In over 97 per cent of people with ALS, TDP-43 protein collects outside of its normal place in the nucleus of motor neurons and aggregates in the cytoplasm. There is still much to learn about this abnormal process and why it occurs in ALS.
With this grant, Dr. Mohan Babu is collaborating with Dr. Christine Vande Velde at the Université de Montréal and Dr. Antonia Ratti at the University of Milan, Italy. They will examine the protein-protein interactions that occur in different people with the same TDP-43 mutation to see if any unique patterns in the biology might explain each person’s specific clinical symptoms. They will grow motor neurons from stem cells derived from the skin and blood cells of people living with and without ALS and use powerful computer analysis techniques to analyze the complex interactions between TDP-43 protein and its surrounding proteins.
Learning whether TDP-43 interactions with other proteins can reflect unique aspects of ALS symptoms and the resulting clinical journey could be critical to advancing our understanding and treatment of disease in the years ahead.