An international Canada-Israel research partnership is taking important steps to determine whether a known drug has the potential to become a viable treatment for people with ALS. Recently, using a mouse model, Dr. Eran Hornstein of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel showed that the antibiotic enoxacin holds promise at correcting a malfunctioning pathway […]
Is there a link between metabolism and ALS disease progression?
While a fast metabolism is often thought of as an asset, there is increasing evidence that in ALS patients, hypermetabolism could be linked to faster-progressing disease. Now, with funding from the ALS Society of Canada and Brain Canada, a team made up of Dr. Jasna Kriz (CERVO Brain Research Centre, Université Laval), Dr. Nicolas Dupré […]
How does the loss of the normal function of DNAJC7 cause ALS?
Thanks to new funding from the ALS Society of Canada and Brain Canada, Dr. Martin Duennwald of Western University, an expert on protein misfolding in neurodegenerative disease, is coming together with Dr. Sali Farhan, an up-and-coming Canadian researcher at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital). Together they will explore how mutations in DNAJC7 impede its ability […]
Is it possible to target the root cause of ALS linked to the C9ORF72 gene?
Dr. Christopher E. Pearson, a genetics expert based at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and Full-Professor at the University of Toronto, has studied DNA repeat expansions, a type of genetic mutation common to neurodegenerative disease, for decades. Recently, his team successfully reversed one version of this type of mutation in a Huntington’s […]
Could inflammation in this pathway provide a new target for ALS therapies?
A newly identified pathway has been piquing research interest around the world for its possible role in ALS. Recently, Canadian virologist Dr. Honglin Luo, in collaboration with her colleague Dr. Neil Cashman, discovered that an immune pathway known as cGAS-STING – a catchier abbreviation for cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes – is activated by […]
Can an animal model provide new insights into the formation of stress granules?
Alicia Dubinski may have inherited both her love for science and studying a neurodegenerative disease from her mother, a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto. When Dubinski was still a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, she met Dr. Christine Vande Velde at l’Université de Montréal in the Spring of 2019. She knew right […]
What is the role of a newly discovered protein in ALS?
Myriam Gagné was not expecting to work on ALS research. But the first time she saw Dr. Christine Vande Velde’s lab at l’Université de Montréal, it was “love at first sight.” Studying ALS would allow her to combine basic cell biology, neurosciences and biochemistry, her main academic areas of interest. She joined the lab in […]
Does a previously unstudied protein play an important role in ALS?
A protein called TDP-43 is usually found inside the cell nucleus where it plays an essential role in regulating many cellular processes. But in 97 per cent of people with ALS and nearly half of the people with frontotemporal dementia, TDP-43 is found outside the cell nucleus in an area called the cytoplasm. Understanding why […]
Can probiotics play a protective role in ALS?
Probiotics are friendly, live bacteria that are good for the digestive system. You may be familiar with the digestive benefits of probiotics in foods like yogurt or kefir. Many scientists are investigating how changes in the composition of intestinal bacteria may play a role in a range of diseases including obesity, colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease […]