Understanding why the movement of proteins in motor neurons is disrupted in C9orf72 MND
Principal Investigator: Dr Daniel Solomon
Lead Institution: King's College London
MND Association Funding: £292,519*
Funding dates: July 2024 - June 2027
*Supported by The Lady Edith Wolfson Foundation Fellowship Programme
About the project
In the most common form of genetic MND, C9orf72, the gene changes lead to the production of toxic proteins called dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs). These toxic proteins disrupt the movement of other proteins between different parts of a motor neuron. TDP-43 is one of the proteins which is impacted by dipeptide repeat proteins and is thought to play a key role in motor neuron death. TDP-43 gets stuck in the wrong area of the motor neuron and becomes faulty. This project aims to understand why dipeptide repeat proteins disrupt the movement of proteins like TDP-43 and if there is a way of correcting their movement.
What could this mean for MND research?
This project aims to unravel why protein movement is disrupted in C9orf72 MND and will try to determine how it can be restored. This could lead to the development of new potential treatments for MND.
Project code: 2329-799
