Researchers perform thousands of mutations to understand amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Researchers from IBEC and CRG in Barcelona use a technique called high-throughput mutagenesis to study Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), with unexpected results.
Results showed that aggregation of TDP-43 is not harmful but actually protects cells, changing our understanding of ALS and opening the door to radically new therapeutic approaches.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating and incurable nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control and normally death within a few years of diagnosis. In ALS, like in other neurodegenerative diseases, specific protein aggregates have long been recognized as the pathological hallmarks, but it is not clear whether they represent the actual cause of the disease. Indeed, alleviating aggregation has repeatedly failed as a therapeutic strategy when trying to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The SPECS group, together with the physical medicine and rehabilitation department of the hospital Sant Joan de Barcelona, explain us in the news of Punt Avui television, their study in virtual reality for patients who have suffered a stroke. The study began in 2014 and is a reinforcement of the basic rehabilitation treatment. In this case, a study has been done with 18 patients and a clear improvement has been observed after two months thanks to this system.
On Wednesday July 17th, the 12th IBEC Annual Symposium was held at the Hotel Catalonia Plaza in Barcelona. With the participation of more than 300 assistants and the exhibition of more than 102 scientific posters, this year, the event focused on Bioengineering for active aging – one of the three main research areas of IBEC- and had the participation of three MIT speakers (Massachusets Institute of Technology), among others.
