ALS treatment found in three proteins

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

Were ALS comes from and how it progresses are mysteries that continue to vex medical science. But recent research at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology has found three proteins that could shed some light on the mechanisms behind this deadly disease. In the search for treatments and earlier diagnoses of ALS, scientists are focused on biomarkers, or biological characteristics that reflect a physiological change in the body during or after an illness. A typical example of a biomarker is troponin, which is secreted into the blood when a heart muscle is damaged following a heart attack. There are currently no reliable markers for ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative diseasethat destroys the nerve cells that control muscle movement, causing muscles to become weak and then paralyzed. ALS affects all skeletal muscles, including those used for breathing and swallowing.

Häggmark explains that one protein, NEFM, is a structural component of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system. If found in blood plasma, it could indicate nerve fiber death as a result of ALS.

RGS18, on the other hand, is a cell signaling protein. The increase of this protein may reflect its leakage from the degenerated muscles in these patients, the study states.

The third protein, SLC25A20, is a mitochondrial protein thereby representing a cellular structure that that has previously been shown as linked to ALS.

 Häggmark says the ongoing study will include examining “disease specificity” of the markers, that is, whether what they find in ALS is also relevant for other neurological degenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.