Motor neurone disease 'blocked by stopping protein'

Blocking the abnormal movement of a protein could block the process of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - a form of Motor Neurone Disease.

Researchers at Louisiana State University found that by blocking the atypical movement of a protein created by mutated gene FUS, they could block the condition, according to the study published online in journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Senior author Nicholas Lanson Jr said: "Our next goal is to identify other factors such as proteins or RNA that mutant forms of FUS target so that we can get more insights into the disease mechanisms."

The study was performed using a fruit fly model, which developer Dr Udai Pandey says is a quick method for studying many human conditions including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The progression of the model could therefore see a furthering of research into such conditions.

This comes after researchers at the University of Oxford unveiled a new way of delivering drugs to the brain, which could lead to pioneering treatments for people with motor neuron disease as well as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

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