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Disrupted SUMOylation facilitates rogue TDP-43 in ALS

Project Overview

Proteins are large molecules that play many essential roles in the body. They do most of the work inside cells and are necessary for the structure, function and regulation of all tissues and organs. TDP-43 is a protein that is usually found inside the cell nucleus. However, in most people with ALS, it is located outside the cell nucleus in the cytoplasm of motor neurons.

Tags called small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) can change how proteins function and where they are located in a cell. Scientists have also found SUMOs on TDP-43 protein, but nobody knows yet how these tags might change TDP-43 structure, location, or function.

With this grant, Terry Suk will investigate exactly where SUMOs tag TDP-43 and how they affect its behaviour using fruit fly models. He will also examine donated post-mortem spinal cord tissue from people who had ALS to learn about the extent of SUMO tagging of TDP-43 in ALS disease processes.

New learning about how SUMO tagging affects TDP-43 and ALS disease processes may lead to a new therapeutic target for ALS in the future.

Principal Investigator

Terry Suk , University of Ottawa

Partners and Donors

ALS Society of Canada

Project Complete

Disrupted SUMOylation facilitates rogue TDP-43 in ALS

  • Grant Type

    Capacity building grants

  • Area of research

    Neurodegeneration

  • Disease Area

    ALS

  • Competition

    ALS Canada – Brain Canada Trainee Program 2019

  • Province

    Ontario

  • Start Date

    2019

  • Total Grant Amount

    $75,000

  • Health Canada Contribution

    $37,500

Contact Us

1200 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1600, Montreal, Quebec
H3B 4G7

+1 (514) 989-2989 info@braincanada.ca

Please note all online donations will receive an electronic tax receipt, issued by Brain Canada Foundation.

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Territorial acknowledgement

The offices of Brain Canada Foundation are located on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka Peoples, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. We honour and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging, and dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership, collaboration, and reconciliation. In our work, we focus our efforts on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, particularly those that pertain to improving health for Indigenous Peoples and that focus on advancing our own learning on Indigenous issues.

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Registration number: 89105 2094 RR0001

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  • About
    • What We Do
    • EDI Action Plan
    • Leadership
    • Team
    • Annual Report
    • Publications
    • Careers
  • Brain Conditions
    • One Brain
    • ALS
    • Autism (ASD)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Brain Injury
    • Dementia
    • Epilepsy
    • Mental Illness
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson’s
    • Stroke
    • More
  • Research
    • Programs
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Program Partners
    • Announcements
  • Impact
    • Research Impact Stories
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Brain Health in Indigenous Communities
    • Women’s Brain Health
    • Mind Over Matter
  • How You Can Help
    • Ways to Give
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Workplace Giving
    • The Great Minds
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