UMC Utrecht and VectorY Therapeutics collaborate in ALS Biomarker Study

Finding these biomarkers is expected to help diagnose ALS and monitor disease progression and improve the design of future clinical studie

18-Jun-2024 - UMC Utrecht has enrolled its first patient for a new study to identify biomarkers of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The observational investigator-initiated study is led by Professor Dr. Leonard van den Berg and supported by VectorY Therapeutics. VectorY Therapeutics is developing ...

Reading out RNA structures in real time

16-Feb-2023 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and Stephen Hawking’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the gradual loss of control over the muscles in the body. It is currently incurable and the cause of the disease is unknown in over 90% of all ...

Study of skin biopsies offers potential as new diagnostic marker for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The discovery of this biomarker detectable in small skin samples can be very useful for cases in which diagnosis is difficult

29-Mar-2022 - Barcelona (UAB) and of the Functional Unit for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at the Hospital del Mar have identified the presence of an ALS biomarker in the skin of the patients. This specific protein, TDP-43, is present outside the nucleus of skin cells of patients. The presence in the skin of ...

Healthy organelles, healthy cells

02-Oct-2019 - It has recently become clear just how important membraneless organelles are for cells. Now biochemists at ETH Zurich have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates the formation of these organelles. This has laid the foundation for more targeted research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s or ...

Using graphene to detect ALS, other neurodegenerative diseases

06-Dec-2018 - The wonders of graphene are numerous -- it can enable flexible electronic components, enhance solar cell capacity, filter the finest subatomic particles and revolutionize batteries. Now, the "supermaterial" may one day be used to test for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS -- a progressive, ...

New technique could bring earlier diagnoses for muscular dystrophy, ALS and similar disorders

07-May-2018 - A new blood test could reveal the genetic roots of muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other disorders caused by the expansion of DNA repeats, potentially helping doctors diagnose their patients’ conditions sooner. The findings by University of Florida Health researchers and ...

Better understanding ALS by looking at how cells change

20-Mar-2018 - It took eight long years of research, but now an international team led by neuroscientists at Université de Montréal has discovered a basic molecular mechanism that better helps understand how Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), works. And that basic science could ...

Initiative taps scientists to create atlas of cells in human spinal cord

18-Oct-2017 - Scientists at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute today received a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) donor advised fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, to construct an atlas of gene activity of all cells in the human spinal cord. Once completed, the atlas ...

A Biophysical ‘Smoking Gun’

11-Jul-2017 - While much about Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, scientists do know that part of the disease’s progression involves a normal protein called tau, aggregating to form ropelike inclusions within brain cells that eventually strangle the neurons. Yet how this protein transitions from its ...

Aggregated protein in nerve cells can cause ALS

06-May-2016 - Persons with the serious disorder ALS, can have a genetic mutation that causes the protein SOD1 to aggregate in motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers at Umeå University have discovered that, when injected into mice, the SOD1 aggregation spreads rapidly leading to ALS. ALS, ...