Reading Time: 5 minutes Long before the latest wave of cellular and molecular biology advances started to give us new information on what was going on at the cellular level in MND, some doctors had observed that if the disease started in one particular part of the body, it would be neighbouring parts that became affected next. This suggested…
Reading Time: 2 minutes A team at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience are creating a zebrafish model to study the C9orf72 gene mutation in MND, and work out its role in the brain and spinal cord (our reference 864-792). Zebrafish are a good way of modelling what happens in human MND. We know that many of the genes…
Reading Time: 2 minutes Previous research in humans and zebrafish has shown that before symptoms arise in MND, early changes occur in the interneurones. This type of nerve cell provide a link between the upper and lower motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. The job of one type of interneurone (called inhibitory interneurones) is to apply the…
Reading Time: 3 minutes Following on from the identification of the gene TBK1 as a contributory risk factor for MND in February, the plot thickens further with research published yesterday by Dr Jochen Weishaupt and colleagues. Published in Nature Neuroscience, the team found mutations in the TBK1 gene as a cause of both inherited MND and frontotemporal dementia in Germany…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Dr Tennore Ramesh is based at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) based at the University of Sheffield. His Association funded research is investigating the early stages of MND in zebrafish, as well as screening potential drugs. Would you ever consider that fish and humans have parallels? Interestingly it’s a “Yes”. They are vertebrates…
Reading Time: 2 minutes Natalie Rounding is a first year PhD student funded by the MND Association. Based at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, she gives us an insight into zebrafish and how they can be used in MND research.
Reading Time: 3 minutes A recent study by Motor Neurone Disease Association-funded researcher Dr Tennore Ramesh from the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) has shown that even before the symptoms of MND occur, at the earliest stages of the disease, ‘connector neurones’ known as interneurons are already becoming damaged in the zebrafish. Zebrafish are ideal models for helping…
Reading Time: 3 minutes An international research group spanning seven countries and including 23 researchers has identified a gene that modifies survival in MND. The gene, called EPHA4 was identified through a zebrafish genetic screening project and verified in rodents and humans with MND. The study was led by Prof Wim Robberecht, who has previously been funded by the MND Association and who…
Reading Time: 5 minutes Delegates to last weekend’s ENCALS (European Network for the Cure of ALS) meeting in Dublin were met with uncharacteristic hot and sunny weather – enjoyed by the numerous Stag and Hen parties wandering the city centre, but not by the 200 people ensconced in the impressive, new Biomedical Sciences Institute at Trinity College, from 8am…
Reading Time: 2 minutes A study on zebrafish has increased our understanding of how motor neurones work and has provided potential clues for the development of future treatments for MND. The study, led by Dr Catherina Becker from University of Edinburgh, showed that a unique motor neurone repair system found in zebrafish can be enhanced if a particular signal called Notch1 is…
