ALS TDI Completes Gene Expression Profile of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in Mice

ALS TDI has announced that it has achieved a significant milestone in its science plan to understand ALS at the protein and gene level by the generation of the world’s largest transcriptome profiling database for the ALS mouse. The database contains complex information that details the development of the disease in the mouse at the cellular level. The data offers researchers insights into the disease process never before possible.

The company says that this giant step forward is just the beginning – plans are to ultimately make this data set many times larger and to incorporate information from other relevant neurodegenerative animal models. Crucially, similar information will be obtained from samples donated by ALS patients and will result in the most robust and relevant dataset possible for prioritizing therapeutic targets in ALS.

Earlier this year, ALS TDI outlined and began to implement the research plan described to date to conquer ALS. This transcriptome project is a cornerstone of a massive data collection effort. As always, the goal of ALS TDI is the discovery and development of therapeutics for today’s patients.

This current data set is comprised of results from analysis using latest generation Affymetrix chips covering the entire mouse mRNA spectrum. ALS TDI researchers analyzed three separate, relevant tissues; lumbar spinal cord, brain and affected muscle. For each of these tissues, multiple samples were analyzed to gain statistical significance with data obtained from pre-symptomatic ages through end stage (days 30, 50, 60, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120).

The information extracted from these data-sets, as they enlarge, will highlight in growing detail the various processes ongoing in the mouse as ALS appears and the later symptoms develop. Currently, ALS TDI scientists are pouring over this new wealth of information to annotate the cellular processes that are increasing and decreasing in the ALS affected animals.