Breakthrough in ALS Treatment: Immune Pathway Discovered

Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School have discovered that proteins involved in the innate immune system, specifically gasdermin E, could be at the root of ALS, a fatal motor neuron disease. Inactivating gasdermin E in the brain linked with inflammation prevents cellular damage in human neurons and delays the progression of ALS in mice. The findings suggest that gasdermin E drives changes to neurons that may contribute to disease progression, and this work is an important first step towards developing new approaches for treating ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.