Researchers Discover How ALS Spreads

Adhirath Bollapragada

18 May 2014

University of British Columbia

Published: 18 February 2014

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140218114305.htm

Summary:

             The fatal neurodegenerative disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, has been under investigation by researchers, and in particular, how it spreads. New findings suggest that transmission can be blocked, and that misfolded non-mutant SOD1 can be transmitted from region to region in the nervous system, offering a molecular explanation for the progressive nature of the spread. ALS is a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There are approximately 140,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide each year.

Connection:

            This connects to our first unit on the Human Body, where we learnt about the Nervous System. We learnt about the motor neurons and how they send the information back to where the sensory neurons received received information. This article connects to the nervous system as it talks about how ALS can break down the motor neurons in the nervous system. In addition to connecting with the nervous system, this article also talks about mutation and how genetic mutation can cause mutation in protein. As a result, this article relates back to our unit on DNA and RNA. 

Origin of Huntington's disease found in brain; insights to help deliver therapy

Shruti Suresh

Period 2 Mathieu
Biology Honors
19 May 2014

Published: 28 April 2014
No author, but article is based on materials given by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140428120654.htm


Summary: 
           A research that was published on April 28, 2014, gives new awareness on the origins of Huntington's disease. The research helps advocate new targets and routes for drugs to help delay the disease. Huntington's disease is caused by a genetic mutation in the gene, huntingtin, which is present in every somatic cell. A repetitive area of DNA at one end of the mutated gene called a genetic "stutter" is what scientists hold responsible for the cause of the degeneration of the neurons. Professor X. William Yang and Nan Wang, a postdoctoral researcher used genetic scissors to cut the "stutter" off and turned off the mutated gene in neurons of the cortex and the striatum in a mouse model. Scientists at UCLA unearthed that diminishing huntingtin in the cortex partially recovered the symptoms of Huntington's disease. But when reducing huntingtin in both the cortex and in the striatum, and leaving the gene in the rest of the brain, resulted in a correction in symptoms of the disease in the mouse model.

Connection:
           This article directly relates to our curriculum because it focuses on a specific brain disease that affects a particular part of the human brain, which we studied. Due to this research, new ways to target the mutated gene have been found. For example, by finding precise locations of the origins of Huntington's disease and by using genetic scissors to cut the repetitive part of DNA in huntingtin scientists are able to reduce the symptoms of brain atrophy and help patients affected with Huntington's disease.