The Potential of Gene Therapy for Motor Neuron Diseases

2005 ◽  
pp. 537-556
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Motor Neuron Diseases

scholarly journals CIM Journal Club: Gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy Comment on Mendell et al. N Engl J Med 2017;377:1713-22.

2018 ◽  
pp. E31-E33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Viral Vector ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Journal Club ◽  
Dna Encoding ◽  
Motor Neuron Diseases ◽  
Motor Neuron Protein ◽  
Survival Of Motor Neuron

In their landmark paper, Mendell et al. show that infants with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) reached important motor milestones and survived longer when treated with AVXS-101 (AveXis), a viral vector containing DNA encoding the survival of motor neuron protein (SMN). Patients not only crawled, stood and walked independently, but learned to speak. These results are very encouraging for patients with SMA and offer hope for pediatric and adult patients with other types of motor neuron diseases.

Correlate the NCS and Needle EMG of Motor Neuron Diseases Using FIS System

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Mayavanshi ◽  
Himanshu A Patel ◽  
Palak A Parikh
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Motor Neuron Diseases

scholarly journals Kinesin Mutations Cause Motor Neuron Disease Phenotypes by Disrupting Fast Axonal Transport in Drosophila

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (3) ◽  
pp. 1075-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryl D Hurd ◽  
William M Saxton
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Axonal Transport ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Synaptic Membrane ◽  
Slow Axonal Transport ◽  
Fast Axonal Transport ◽  
Motor Neuron Diseases ◽  
Transmitter Secretion ◽  
Axon Terminals

Abstract Previous work has shown that mutation of the gene that encodes the microtubule motor subunit kinesin heavy chain (Khc) in Drosophila inhibits neuronal sodium channel activity, action potentials and neurotransmitter secretion. These physiological defects cause progressive distal paralysis in larvae. To identify the cellular defects that cause these phenotypes, larval nerves were studied by light and electron microscopy. The axons of Khc mutants develop dramatic focal swellings along their lengths. The swellings are packed with fast axonal transport cargoes including vesicles, synaptic membrane proteins, mitochondria and prelysosomal organelles, but not with slow axonal transport cargoes such as cytoskeletal elements. Khc mutations also impair the development of larval motor axon terminals, causing dystrophic morphology and marked reductions in synaptic bouton numbers. These observations suggest that as the concentration of maternally provided wild-type KHC decreases, axonal organelles transported by kinesin periodically stall. This causes organelle jams that disrupt retrograde as well as anterograde fast axonal transport, leading to defective action potentials, dystrophic terminals, reduced transmitter secretion and progressive distal paralysis. These phenotypes parallel the pathologies of some vertebrate motor neuron diseases, including some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and suggest that impaired fast axonal transport is a key element in those diseases.

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