ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most devastating neurological disorders in adults. It is characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration and inevitably leads to death within 3 to 5 years of onset. Despite decades of research, the etiology of ALS is still unknown. Some of the suggested pathogenic factors are glutamate toxicity, oxidative stress, neurofilament accumulation, exogenous factors (toxins, viruses) and neuroinflammation. All of these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive and may individually or together cause motor neuron disease through a common final pathway. The majority of ALS cases are sporadic (~90%), but in the inherited form of the disease (familial ALS) about 10 to 20% of the cases are associated with mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (mtSOD1) gene. Our labs studies the role of neuroinflammation in ALS as well as the molecular mechanisms regulating microRNA expression in this disease.

The ALS Association
ALS at Wikipedia

Moeller Lab @ University of Washington
ALS (Lou Gehrig's diseae)
Home News Research ALS FcamR Huntington's disease Microglia microRNA People Publications Journal Club Links	Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most devastating neurological disorders in adults. It is characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration and inevitably leads to death within 3 to 5 years of onset. Despite decades of research, the etiology of ALS is still unknown. Some of the suggested pathogenic factors are glutamate toxicity, oxidative stress, neurofilament accumulation, exogenous factors (toxins, viruses) and neuroinflammation. All of these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive and may individually or together cause motor neuron disease through a common final pathway. The majority of ALS cases are sporadic (~90%), but in the inherited form of the disease (familial ALS) about 10 to 20% of the cases are associated with mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (mtSOD1) gene. Our labs studies the role of neuroinflammation in ALS as well as the molecular mechanisms regulating microRNA expression in this disease. The ALS Association ALS at Wikipedia	(Insert section information here.)
Send mail to: moeller@u.washington.edu Last modified: 7/16/2008 4:36 PM