TDP-43 Protein

[KevinM]

Put his this under the “have ALS researchers been barking up the wrong tree” category. An article in ALS News Today from 10/1/19 points to recent research showing that clumping of the TDP-43 protein, long thought to be one of the potential causes of ALS, now appears to protect nerve cells.

I realize this is only one study, but it is the exact opposite of what much of the proposed therapies and treatments have focused on, ie., keeping this protein from clumping. I guess this illustrates the complexity of the disease, but also points to the fact that researchers may be a long way from really understanding this and other neurodegenerative diseases, and creating effective therapies. Kevin

 

[Nikki J]

This is the actual paper The mutational landscape of a prion-like domain

They were studying this in yeast cells and have not looked at animal or human cells yet . This may pan out but it might not. It is a long way from disproving the prevailing theory. ALS News Today tends to be a little sensational in their reporting

 

[KevinM]

This is the actual paper The mutational landscape of a prion-like domain

They were studying this in yeast cells and have not looked at animal or human cells yet . This may pan out but it might not. It is a long way from disproving the prevailing theory. ALS News Today tends to be a little sensational in their reporting

Yes, I have noticed that. Thanks for the additional detail. K

 

[blitzc]

ALS News Today tends to be a little sensational in their reporting

If ALS News Today is such, what sites for research do you recommend?

 

[Nikki J]

They report current studies. It is important though to read critically and if you can, read the original paper or at least the abstract.
Also if you go to the original paper if it is the journal site you can look around to see what else is in that issue.

In December the abstracts from the MNDA conference should be published online. Those are worth browsing

I would follow the NEALS website and webinars.

I find one thing leads to another. You read a comment and do a search and then follow a link. Just always think critically

 

[lgelb]

A good feed of university press releases, where they highlight their latest findings:
EurekaAlert [ALS tag]

There are many neurology portals, which you can scan daily using an RSS reader.

And of course there's always PubMed.

By and large you're better off reading the authors' abstract or paper than getting it recycled through outlets with agendas.

As far as TDP-43 aggregation, here's a good review of why it's very much still in the conversation.

 

[Vincent]

This alone is the best argument for Open Research I have heard. One of the things we do in Canada is to once a year, get researchers from across Canada to present their research, and to network with other researchers. this prevents labs from duplication and going into a study that was proven effective/ineffective years ago. This helps speed things up to get us to a cure as fast as possible.