Project Overview

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a neurodegenerative disease for which there is no effective treatment. The disease affects motor neurons, which are nerve cells that control the voluntary movement of muscles. These cells are under constant stress in ALS patients and eventually die, resulting in paralysis and death. An ancient and critical cellular response is to protect cells is the formation of small containing cytoplasmic particles, called stress granules. Disruption in the formation or disassembly of these granules results in cell death, including the types of cells that are lost in ALS, and this process may be defective in ALS. This proposal aims to determine the relevance of this mechanism to the development of ALS. In addition, this proposal will inform whether targeting this stress response could be a viable therapeutic strategy using mouse models, and thus pave the way for downstream studies to move this approach closer to clinical trial.

Principal Investigator

Christine Vande Velde , Université de Montréal

Team Members

Partners and Donors

ALS Society of Canada