ALS Research Projects: Grants on the Rise

To date, the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins has awarded 89 research grants and has several new grants pending, at a total cost of more than $17 million. The Center awards ALS research grants throughout the year on a flexible time frame, with the idea that rapid funding fosters innovative ideas. 

Becker | Bedlack | Bergles | Brushart | Burden | Gitler | Glass | Griffin | Hoke | Julien | Lloyd | Ludolph | Manfredi | Maragakis | Oppenheim | P²ALS | Pandey | Robberecht | Song | Taylor | Traynor | Wang | Wong | Zou

Catherina Becker, PhD (Renewal)

University of Edinburgh
Generation and Integration of New Motor Neurons in the Adult Spinal Cord of Zebrafish

Co-funded with University of Edinburgh

Humans cannot replace motor neurons that are lost in ALS. However, we have found that zebrafish, an important animal model, readily replace motor neurons from adult stem cells that are already resident in the damaged spinal cord. By identifying the molecules involved and showing how the mechanism of motor neuron regeneration in zebrafish can be controlled, our studies will inform future therapies aimed at rescuing or replacing diseased motor neurons in ALS.

Richard Bedlack, MD, PhD

Duke University
ALSUntangled

Patients with ALS sometimes consider alternative or off-label treatments for their disease. It is difficult, however, to get accurate information on their costs, side effects and potential benefits. We will use email, Twitter and other social media to bring patients, clinicians and scientists together to document the facts about various alternative and off-label therapies being offered for ALS.

Dwight Bergles, PhD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Developmental potential and physiological response of NG2 glia in ALS

Partial funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

The glial cells that are in intimate contact with motor neurons in the ventral spinal cord likely play an important role in ALS progression. Because little is known about how these cells develop in the disease state, and if that differs from the norm, we intend to follow the various stages, beginning with the earliest glial progenitor cells in mouse SOD1 models of ALS. We'll analyze the progenitors' cell structure in detail, observe how quickly they proliferate and examine their ability to differentiate into mature glial cell types (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes) or motor neurons. Our work should provide insight into cell interactions that influence the survival of motor neurons in ALS.

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Thomas Brushart, MD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Role of Pathway-Derived Growth Factors in Motor Axon Regeneration

Regenerating motor neurons can distinguish between nerve pathways that lead to skin and those that lead to muscle. We have recently shown that these pathways differ in the types or patterns of release of the growth factors that they produce. However, we don't yet understand how that plays a part in motor neuron growth toward muscle targets.

My work for the Packard Center aims to shed light on the process, largely by creating a small, controlled system to study. Our cultures will consist of sections of spinal cord containing motor neurons placed close enough to living nerve to enable the motor neurons to regenerate into the nerve.
In this situation, we can explore the role of different growth factors and even cell structure that affects motor neuron outgrowth. We hope to apply this knowledge to patients, ultimately, to develop ways to overcome the effects of injury or disease in the nervous system.

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Steven J. Burden, PhD

New York University
Prolonging longevity and maintaining neuromuscular synapses in SOD1 G93A mice by increasing MuSK expression/activity

Our prior experiments demonstrate that a modest increase in MuSK expression is sufficient to maintain compromised neuromuscular synapses and raise the possibility that increasing MuSK expression/activity in other circumstances, including ALS, may prevent or delay motor axon withdrawal and extend longevity. We propose to determine whether increasing MuSK expression is sufficient to prolong longevity and delay motor axon withdrawal in SOD1 G93A transgenic mice.

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Aaron Gitler, PhD & Michael Granato, PhD

University of Pennsylvania
Novel Yeast and Zebrafish Models to Explore the Role of FUS/TLS in ALS

In motor neurons of both humans and many animal models of ALS, it's not uncommon to find abnormal clumps, or aggregations, of several proteins. Gitler and Granato propose to study the biology of one of them, a protein that's generated by the FUS/TLS gene. Using yeast cells as easy-to-study model systems, they hope to learn how and why the FUS/TLS protein forms clump within cells and how that's related to motor neuron death. Other work involves studying FUS/TLS in zebrafish, which are both fast-dividing and transparent, enabling easy study.

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Jonathan Glass, MD

Emory University
Novel Therapeutic Interventions in the fALS Mouse

Our earlier Packard work showed that the degeneration of a motor neuron's leading end, the most distant part of the extending axon, is one of the earliest changes in the SOD1 mouse that models ALS. This is likely the same in human disease.

The work has prompted studies by other Packard investigators, and those outside of Packard, to focus on this area as a possible seedbed of ALS . We, ourselves, have advanced this field by studying how the mutant SOD1 gene – a source of human familial ALS – carries out this distal motor neuron damage. We've examined the phenomenon of having an excess of free radicals – oxidative stress – in motor axon degeneration, and have been studying the importance of normal SOD1 within the mitochondria, the cell's powerhouses, in keeping distal motor axons healthy.

While we are continuing our study of axonal oxidative stress, this latest grant work aims to clarify why motor neurons, specifically, are so vulnerable in this mouse model of human familial ALS.

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John W. Griffin, MD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
New Tools for Assessment of the Pathology of Experimental Motor Neuron Diseases

Funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

We have developed new techniques to investigate pathology of the peripheral nervous system with greater accuracy and efficiency. Now we're using them successfully to study growth factor and other types of cell signaling, nerve regeneration, and the effects of nerve demyelination. Applying these approaches to ALS models is especially timely; we simply don't know the extent and pace of neuronal changes in these disorders. A secondary but important goal is to find a simple, rapid indicator of the state of health of the peripheral nervous system, one that can be used by any investigator to any rodent model of motor neuron or peripheral nerve disease.

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Ahmet Hoke, MD, PhD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Pleiotrophin in Motor Neuron Disease

Partial funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

In ALS, current attempts at treating the illness are directed at promoting the growth of motor neurons without addressing the issue of changes that occur in the distal portions of the peripheral nerves. Local factors within the distal portions of the nerve may play an important role in degree of success during regeneration of motor neurons into the target tissue. Glial cell-line Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) is very important in motor neuron regeneration and survival. This project has two goals: (1) To transplant C17.2 stem cells in a model of regeneration after prolonged denervation in order to improve degree of motor regeneration; (2) To develop robust and reliable measures of motor regeneration that we can measure at the target tissue using electrophysiological and histological methods.

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Jean-Pierre Julien, PhD (Renewal)

Laval University, Quebec
Development of Passive Immunization Approaches for ALS Caused by SOD1 Mutations

Our previous studies demonstrated therapeutic effects of vaccination against mutant SOD1 in mice models of ALS. In the past year, we tested a passive immunization based on intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion in G93A-SOD1 mice of monoclonal antibodies specific to misfolded forms of SOD1. One antibody succeeded in prolonging the lifespan on G93A-SOD1 mice in proportion to the duration of treatment. Interestingly, the variable Fab fragment of this anti-SOD1 antibody was sufficient to confer protection in G93A-SOD1 mice. The dispensability of Fc region open new avenues for the use of single-chain variable fragments (scFv) or intrabodies of smaller size and with less immunogenicity. Here, we propose to use three different strategies for the testing of anti-SOD1 scFv antibodies for treatment of ALS caused by SOD1 mutations. First, we will test the therapeutic effects of anti-SOD1 scFv antibodies when infused ICV in G93A-SOD1 mice. Second, we will test a gene therapy approach based on adeno-associated virus (AAV) encoding scFv antibodies. Third, we will generate transgenic mice bearing Thy1-scFv constructs to test the therapeutic efficacy of scFv antibodies with or without signal peptide (intrabodies) for cellular secretion.

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Thomas Lloyd, MD, PhD & Alex Kolodkin, PhD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
A Drosophila Model of Motor Neuron Disease Using Mutations in p150 Dynactin

Partial funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, provides one of the most powerful gene-based systems for studying development and biology of the neuromuscular system. Because of the ability to express mutant human genes in Drosophila, the flies have recently been used as models of many neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. Such models allow rapid screening of all other genes, to search for those that modify the disease process in some way. They also reveal potential drug targets.

We're exploring mutations in genes involved in internal transport of materials within a motor neuron's axons, specifically those associated with motor neuron degeneration in humans. Since these genes are highly conserved from flies to humans, we expect that similar mutations in the fly will reproduce characteristics of the human disease. Our goal is to create a genetic model of motor neuron disease in Drosophila and then use this model to search for new drug targets for ALS.

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Albert Ludolph, MD & Philip Wong, PhD (Renewal)

University of Ulm / Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Development of transgenic mice carrying dynactin mutations associated with sporadic ALS

Partial funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Mutations in the protein dynactin, part of a neuron's internal transport system, are suspect as a cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, since the genetic findings in more than 2,000 patients and controls cannot reveal a cause-effect relationship for each of the mutations, we propose to investigate the detected sequence changes in transgenic mice.

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Giovanni Manfredi, MD, PhD (Renewal)

Weill Medical College, Cornell
Mitochondrial Axonal Transport Defects in ALS Motorneurons

Partial funding for this project was made possible by the New York Community Trust

Giovanni Manfredi and others studying motor neurons in mouse models of ALS have noticed that the animals' mitochondria – the minute organs that produce most of a cell's energy – are damaged. The same is true in ALS patients, who also appear to have abnormal mitochondria.

Using mice carrying a mutated form of the cell enzyme SOD1 that's responsible for some types of inherited ALS, Manfredi has begun clarifying the damage process. His hypothesis is that their mitochondrial injury results in a loss of energy that trips motor neuron decline. Additionally, mitochondrial damage in SOD1 mouse models also appears to trigger apoptosis, cells' hard-wired program for death.

For now, Manfredi's focus rests on the activities of SOD1. The enzyme, he's discovered, can reside in mitochondria as well as in cell cytoplasm. But he says only mitochondria containing mutant SOD1 display features typical of injury.

Since joining the Center, Manfredi's begun looking at various different SOD1 mutations, to determine whether mitochondrial damage is a common denominator in all of them. By understanding SOD1's role in affecting mitochondrial health, he hopes to explain the overall effect on motor neurons in cell and animal models created in his laboratory.

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Nicholas Maragakis, MD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
A non-neuronal, human cell-based transplantation paradigm targeting respiratory dysfunction in ALS

Funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Most ALS patients die from respiratory failure as the muscles that control breathing become weak. While many cell transplantation strategies have focused on replacing the motor neurons that service those muscles, our work focuses on use of human glial stem cells to protect the motor neurons in the first place. We're exploring this first by transplanting glial stem cells into a rat model of ALS. The cells are targeted to the neck region of the spinal cord - the area containing motor nerves that innervate breathing muscles. Measurement of various signs will show if disease course has slowed. Our hope is that that targeting these specific regions will ultimately lead to human glial stem cell trials aimed at significantly prolonging patients' lives.

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Ron Oppenheim, PhD & Carol Milligan, PhD (Renewal)

Wake Forest University
Early Changes in ALS: Motoneuron Cell Body and Synaptic Stripping

In ALS, the presumed cause of muscle movement loss has always been the death of motor neurons. New research is showing, however, that while motor neuron death does occur, it's the pulling away of neuron from muscle that appears to precipitate disease symptoms. Our work will study early changes in biology that occur at the motor neuron/muscle junction and relate them to earlier or subsequent changes in the motor neuron proper. We use a multidisciplinary approach to discover which portion of the nervous system shows ALS's earliest changes. Our intent is to find a biomarker for the disease - one that will report on the usefulness of new therapies.

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Udai Pandey, PhD

Louisiana State University
A Drosophila Model to Investigate the Role of FUS in ALS

ALS is marked by abnormal accumulations of a protein named FUS/TLS. In creating fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that carry the human FUS/TLS gene, we've found an economical, easily-studied model of ALS. Our goal with this Packard grant is to understand how the FUS/TLS gene promotes the disease in Drosophila. What we discover, we assume, will shed clearer light on both familial and sporadic ALS in patients.

Wim Robberecht, MD, PhD

University of Leuven, Belgium
Validation of the use of a zebrafish model as a screening tool to identify modifying genes in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Using a zebrafish model to study the mechanism of ALS, we have identified a gene called ephA4 which rescues the motor abnormalities induced by mutant SOD1. We now intend to investigate the role of this gene in ALS and want to study whether genetic alterations in this gene are associated with ALS in humans. Furthermore, we want to explore the therapeutic potential of interfering with this receptor.

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Hongjun Song, PhD (Renewal)

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Model ALS Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Much has been made about using neural stem cells – those in the adult central nervous system of humans and other mammals – as possible repair agents once ALS is slowed or cured. But not many people realize adult neural stem cells also provide a powerful way to study cell behavior. And with Packard scientists recently showing that interactions between motor neurons and their surrounding cells are crucial to the course of the disease, the time is ripe for a good way to study them.

New Packard researcher, Hongjun Song, is preparing laboratory cultures of stem cells to model normal cell interactions and contrast them with what occurs in ALS. He chooses these specific stem cells because they're endowed with nervous system characteristics but, unlike adult nerve cells taken from the body, they reproduce and survive in lab dishes. Also, as stem cells, they can morph into the various types of cells in the nervous system.
Song will work with both normal stem cells and those carrying the mutant SOD1 genes that can trigger ALS characteristics. He'll also use both mice and human cells in his cultures. His system should let him follow the course of disease at a cell level. It should also show how crucial each type of nervous system cell is to the process.

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J. Paul Taylor, MD, PhD (Renewal)

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
A Drosophila model to investigate the role of TDP-43 in ALS

Motor neurons of ALS patients typically contain abnormal deposits of the protein TDP-43. Some researchers have suggested such deposits are important in tripping ALS or in its progress. There is, however, no concrete proof of this. We have developed a model of ALS in the fruit fly, Drosophila by introducing the human TDP-43 gene. We hope to use this model to understand the protein's role in the disease.

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Bryan Traynor, MD

National Institute on Aging, NIH
ALS gene discovery using exome sequencing

This Packard grant was awarded to employ a new technique, exome sequencing, to find the single, mutant genes that underlie familial ALS. These familial genes will also be be screened in the commoner sporadic form of disease. The overall result, then, will be identification of genes underlying ALS.

The technique centers on ultra-new technology that can rapidly sequence DNA, and directing it to single out those areas of the human genome that code for proteins. (This key part is called the exome and makes up about 1 percent of the human genome.) Within three months of obtaining funding, we should be able to fully sequence 21 exomes. The sequence data we derive from this project will be made available on a public website, offering a much-awaited resource for ALS researchers worldwide.

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Jiou Wang, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Using C. elegans to Investigate Molecular Mechanisms of ALS

Funding for this project was made possible by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Our laboratory seeks to use the small, soil-living, transparent roundworm – Caenorhabditis elegans – as a model organism to clarify how disease genes cause ALS in humans. Like the fruitfly, C. elegans is used by researchers to investigate how both healthy and mutated genes affect function. With its fast growth rate and the amount of knowledge we already hold about its genome, the tiny animal – it's about the width of a pencil lead – provides a unique system to study aging related diseases.

Recently, we genetically engineered C. elegans to model one specific form of inherited ALS (that with mutant SOD1 genes). Using the C. elegans model, we were able to conduct unbiased, large-scale screens to search for uncommon genes that might slightly raise the risk of having the disease. Now we aim to establish new C. elegans models of ALS linked to those mutations in patients. We hope that our studies will reveal important disease pathways in humans, and thus provide potential drug targets.

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Philip C. Wong, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Physiological Role of TDP-43: development of conditional TARDBP knockout mice

How ALS arises in sporadic ALS patients remains elusive. We believe the recent discovery of mutations in the TDP-43 gene  – one linked both to sporadic and familial ALS – will help lead us to understand the cause.

To do that, it’s first necessary to determine what part the gene’s product, a protein also called TDP-43, plays in motor neurons. We intend to do this indirectly, by studying adult mouse models that lack the TDP-43 protein. A relatively new technique lets us turn off the TDP-43 gene at will. So far, preliminary data suggests that in motor neurons, the TDP-43 protein, in turn, regulates a protein called SMN. (It’s of interest to know that loss of SMN causes Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a motor neuron disease that afflicts infants.)

Generation and Characterization of Wildtype and ALS-linked TDP-43 Mice (Renewal)

How disease arises in sporadic ALS remains elusive. The recent discovery of mutations in a gene called TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein), linked to both sporadic and familial ALS, provides the opportunity to elucidate the underlying cause of sporadic ALS. In this project, we investigate whether an ALS-associated mutant TDP-43 protein can cause motor neuron disease in mice. If so, a mouse model will be available to clarify how disease arises in sporadic ALS and for design of therapeutic strategies to attenuate this devastating disease.

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Yimin Zou, PhD (Renewal)

UCSD
Regeneration and Degeneration of Cortical Neurons

We study the basic mechanisms of how motor neurons are connected with muscle targets during normal development. Understanding the mechanism of motor axon outgrowth and guidance will potentially shed light of the cause of motor neuron degeneration. In the future, when stem cell techniques become available to help regenerate the impaired motor neurons, methods will need to be developed to guide these motor neuron axons to find their proper targets. Our studies will potentially provide such molecular tools to guide regenerating motor axons to reconnect to muscle targets to cure ALS patients.

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