A single protein called Gemin3 may be the bridge linking the varied proteins known to underlie amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), suggesting a common pathway in this disease, a study using a fruit fly model showed.  The discovery of this common…

The presence of autoantibodies against a calcium channel in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may explain the frequent development of type 2 diabetes in these patients, a preclinical study suggests. The data, which pinpoint the toxic effects of these autoantibodies in mouse insulin-secreting pancreatic cells, shed light on…

Kevin Schaefer hadn’t been in an airport since he was 4 years old, so he had been looking forward to flying from his home in Cary, North Carolina, to Anaheim, California, in June for the 2019 Cure SMA Conference. As it turned out, his experience didn’t go as expected.

A $1 million gift from the Manouk Djoukhadjian Family Foundation II will create Quebec’s first philanthropic research chair on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The donation to the Armand-Frappier Foundation will establish the Anna Sforza Djoukhadjian Philanthropic Research Chair to advance ALS research at the Institut national…

Stealth BioTherapeutics announced the initiation of a Phase 1 trial to assess the safety and tolerability of its investigational oral treatment, SBT-272, in healthy volunteers. SBT-272 is being developed to treat neurodegenerative diseases marked by problems in the workings of mitochondria (a cell’s powerhouse), including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the evaluation of the first three candidate therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial. This trial model, designed to accelerate the development of ALS therapies by assessing multiple treatment candidates simultaneously, is the first of…

Athletes who played professional football — known as soccer in the U.S. — are more than three times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than are the general population, a study from Scotland has found. Its researchers compared causes of death over 18 years for about 7,700 former professional…

A single spinal injection of an investigational RNA therapy blocked motor neuron degeneration and saved motor function in animal models of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) linked to SOD1 mutations, a study  reports. Giving the treatment — a virus-delivered gene-silencer targeting the SOD1 gene —  before the onset of…

A recently discovered inflammatory mechanism triggered by Schwann cells —  specialized cells that produce the protective myelin sheath around neurons —  in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be alleviated with masitinib, a study in rat models shows. The study, “Schwann cells orchestrate peripheral nerve…

To help accelerate development of effective treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the ALS Association is investing $3 million in the disease’s first platform trial. The award is $1 million annually for three years to support the platform investigation, a type of clinical study that evaluates the…