A new study led by Canadian researchers reveals how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) spreads in the body and suggests it may be possible to stop it with antibodies. ALS is the most common form of motor neuron disease (MND), a serious and incurable disease that affects nerve cells (motor neurons) in the brain and spinal cord. The motor neurons gradually stop working and die, to the point where patients in the later stages of the disease become paralyzed and lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe. Around 140,000 new cases of ALS are diagnosed worldwide every year. The causes of ALS are unknown, and there is currently no cure.

Important piece in puzzle of how ALS progresses However, lead researcher Neil Cashman, a professor at the University of British Columbia, where he is also Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding, says their study “identifies an important piece of the puzzle in determining how the disease is transmitted throughout the nervous system.” “By understanding how this occurs,” he adds, “we can devise the best ways to stop the progressive neurological damage seen in ALS.” The researchers report their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS. Previous investigations have established that ALS is associated with a mutation and misfolding of a protein called SOD1, and that mutant misfolded versions of this protein can cause non-mutant forms to misfold inside living cells – like a prion disease.