Pathological abnormalities associated with motor neurone disease have been identified using a new technique developed at the University of Birmingham. The method will help scientists better understand the changes in the brain that lead to motor neurone disease (MND) and could eventually yield insights that will help with the development of new treatments. The abnormalities were identified in a collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the University of Sheffield and published today [8 Aug] in Nature Communications .
Motor neurone disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, is a muscle wasting condition caused by messages from the brain's motor neurones not reaching the muscles, causing them to weaken. Around 5,000 people in the UK have the disease at any one time and currently there is no cure. At the University of Birmingham researchers have developed a technique that enables them to examine specific proteins in their native state, directly from brain and spinal cord tissue samples.
Called native ambient mass spectrometry (NAMS), the tool enables the structure of proteins to be studied in relation to their location within the tissue in greater detail than ever before. Working with colleagues at the University of Sheffield, they were able to identify a metal deficiency in a specific protein, known as SOD1, and show that it accumulates in specific regions of the brain and spinal cord in mice with MND. SOD1 has been implicated in motor neurone dise.