Laboratory Techniques for ALS Research Flashcards
How can modelling of disease help us to bridge the gap between genetics and pathology?
▪️ Patients don’t usually present clinically until late stages of disease progression
▪️ Models can help use understand the middle stages - what goes on between genetics and pathology
What percentage of ALS cases are familial?
~10%
What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?
▪️ Progressive, incurable neurodegenerative condition
▪️ Loss of both upper and lower motor neurons leading to loss of innervation and muscle atrophy
What are the main symptoms of ALS?
▪️ Focal onset of weakness/spasticity in limb or bulbar muscles
▪️ Muscle wasting
▪️ Dysarthria
▪️ Dysphagia
▪️ Death due to respiratory failure or infection (~3 years from symptom onset)
What are the main subtypes of FTD?
▪️ Behavioural variant (bvFTD)
▪️ Semantic variant (svFTD)
▪️ Progressive non-fluent aphasia (nfPPA)
What are the main symptoms of behavioural variant FTD?
▪️ Personality change
▪️ Socially inappropriate behaviour
▪️ Emotional lability
When does death typically occur in FTD?
~4 years from symptom onset due to physical deline
What percentage of ALS patients present with bvFTD?
~5%
(but many more show subtle cognitive signs)
What percentage of FTD cases appear to be familial?
~40%
What is linkage analysis?
A technique to map disease-causing gene mutations across generations of high-risk families by identifying genetic markers that are coinherited with the trait
Where are aggregations of TDP-43 found in ALS?
In cytoplasm of neurons and glia, particularly in the spinal cord
How might TDP-43 mutations cause disease?
▪️ Gain of function AND loss of function
▪️ Aggregations and mislocalisations are toxic
▪️ RNA processing toxicity
What is mislocalisation of TDP-43 in ALS?
Depleted from the nucleus and aggregated in the cytoplasm
How do you model disease progression?
▪️ Clinical samples
▪️ Animal models (e.g., fruit flies, mice)
▪️ Stem cells and in vitro neurons
What are the benefits of fruit flies in neuroscience?
▪️ In vivo
▪️ Cost effective
▪️ No ethics approval - relatively simple to carry out
How can fruit flies be used in ALS research?
Flies genetically modified with chemical, crossbred with MND/ALS flies to see if you can change the ALS phenotype
Study neurodegeneration in the drosophila leg
What three genes were found using fruit flies to suppress TDP-43 toxicity thus improving the MND phenotype?
▪️ GSK3
▪️ hat-trick
▪️ xmas-2
How can we introduce a human-equivalent mutation into a mouse?
CRISPR/Cas9
▪️ CAS9 protein cuts DNA, guided to the TDP-43 sequence by guide RNS
▪️ Simultaneously include section of DNA with mutation so that it heals with this included
What is Automated Continuous Behavioural Monitoring and what has it found in TDP-43 ALS mice?
▪️ Mice monitored continuously be computer which can determine what its doing
▪️ ALS mutant mice walk less, hang less, but rear up and eat more1
What can a rotor rod be used for and what has been found in TPD-43 ALS mice?
Assessing motor function in mice - spin them around faster and faster and see how long they can hold on
▪️ Mutants falling off quickly BUT is it because they are fatter (found to be eating more)?
How can you measure motor function in mice?
▪️ Automated Continuous Behavioural Monitoring
▪️ Rotor rod
▪️ Electrophysiology
▪️ Laser capture microdissection and RNA sequencing
How can electrophysiology be used to assess motor nerve function?
▪️ Place needles into their muscles
▪️ Pick up signals indicating loss of innervation or fasciculations (unstable activity)
(No difference found in mutant TDP-43 mice - don’t have a motor problem?)
What is laser capture microdissection and RNA sequencing and how can it be used in ALS?
To investigate problems with motor nerves at the molecular level
▪️ Use laser to chop out motor neurons from tissue from anterior of spinal cord
▪️ Extract RNA
▪️ Look at molecular profile of cells
What can be used to investigate behavioural phenotype of TDP-43 mutant mice and what does it assess?
Mice in operant cage with 5-choice serial reaction time task
▪️ Attention
▪️ Impulsivity
▪️ Perseveration
▪️ Psychomotor speed
All measures of frontal lobe function! - FTD features of TDP-43 disease