News

London-based CERF Prizes Benefit U.S.-based Research

The Cullen Education and Research Fund (CERF), a private philanthropy based in London, has awarded more than $800,000 to support two U.S. research projects that are working to improve life for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The CERF Medical Engineering Prize, worth €500,000 (about $570,000), was awarded to…

Rare Disease Day Events Bring Awareness, Equity to Patients

Since 2008, Rare Disease Day — the last day of February — has brought together patients, caregivers, family members, friends, and advocates from around the world to raise awareness and improve equity for the more than 7,000 known rare diseases that affect more than 300 million people. In 2022, the…

Antisense Therapy Safely Dampens Mutant C9orf72 in ALS Patient

An experimental antisense oligonucleotide that works to suppress the mutant C9orf72 gene — a cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — safely lowered the production of damaging proteins and other molecules in a patient in a pilot trial. “While other teams have documented that this gene can be suppressed in cells…

Gut Microbiome Changes Evident Before ALS Onset, Study Finds

A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) carrying a mutation in the SOD1 gene showed alterations in the gut microbiome, followed by motor impairments and defects in enteric nervous system — the gut’s own autonomous nervous system — compared with healthy mice, a study found. These microbiome changes occurred…

Canadian Registry, Amylyx Working to Collect Real-life Data on AMX0035

The Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Registry (CNDR) and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals are collaborating on an initiative that could produce the first real-world evidence on AMX0035, Amylyx’s investigational therapy to slow functional decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. The two, in partnership with neuromuscular centers across Canada, will collect…

Structure of TDP-43 Protein Clumps Identified for First Time

A team of scientists in the U.K. and Japan has determined the structure of aggregated TDP-43, the protein whose abnormal clumps are characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their work, reportedly the first to reveal the molecular structure of aggregated TDP-43, identified a “double-spiral fold” of the protein in patients’ brain…