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An investigational treatment for an inherited form of Lou Gehrig’s disease has passed an early phase clinical trial for safety, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Massachusetts General Hospital report. The researchers have shown that the therapy produced no serious side effects in patients with the disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The phase 1 trial’s results, available online in Lancet Neurology, also demonstrate that the...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In work supported by The ALS Association and funded through its Milton Safenowitz Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program, researchers in Baltimore, Md., have shown that cells that normally support neurons in the spinal cord instead worsen the disease in an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on March 31. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive...

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The injection of antisense molecules into the space around the spinal cord of people with ALS is safe according to research published today. The first-in-human trial of this new therapy was funded by The ALS Association. The study was published today in the scientific journal Lancet Neurology. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal...

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In research supported by The ALS Association and published in the online journal Neuron, scientists in London have shown that mutation in a gene that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) reduces the energy supply in neurons and other cells--suggesting that the inability to produce sufficient quantities of energy is an important step in causing some cases of ALS. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive...

Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D. and Bryan Traynor, M.D., Ph.D. Receive Essey Award WASHINGTON, March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, March 19, The ALS Association and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) will present the 2013 Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research at AAN's annual meeting in San Diego, California to Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D. and Bryan Traynor, M.D. Ph.D. These two scientists independently identified a mutation in the C9orf72 gene, on Chromosome 9, that causes ALS,...

ALS discovery points to new pathways and potential treatment strategy A team of scientists, including faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), have discovered a gene that influences survival time in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). The study, published today in Nature Medicine, describes how the loss of activity of a receptor called EphA4 substantially extends the lifespan of people with the disease. When coupled with a UMMS...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) today announced a research agreement with Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and UCB Pharma SA (EN Brussels: UCB) to investigate the use of an anti-CD40L antibody as a potential therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's or Motor Neuron Disease. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. (Logo:...

Sigma-1 receptor offers potential therapeutic targetResearchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Study findings published today in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and the Child Neurology Society, show the gene variant affects Sigma-1 receptors which are involved in motor neuron function and disease development.ALS, also...

For decades, scientists have studied a laboratory mouse model that develops signs of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as they age. In a new study appearing in Nature Biotechnology, investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a new model of ALS, one that mimics sporadic ALS, which represents about 90 percent of all cases.ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is characterized by the death of motor neurons, which are muscle-controlling nerve...

ADDF, MDA, AFTD and ALS TDI Jointly Fund Characterization of TDP-43 Mouse CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) announced today that it has entered into collaboration with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the Alzheimer's Drug Development Foundation (ADDF) and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) to fund the characterization of a new model of neurodegeneration called the TDP-43 mouse. (Logo:...