article: ALS first strikes at the ends of neurons

[Guest guest]

Neurons can be exceptionally long cells, for some

motor neurons the start of the cell, known as the

" cell body " , is found in the spinal cord and the end

of the cell is in a toe. The majority of studies

investigating how motor neurons die in MND

examine what is happening in the spinal cord i.e. what

is happening at the start of the cell only. In a

thought provoking presentation Dr Glass

(Atlanta, USA) showed that motor neurons are damaged

at the end of the cell (where they connect to the

muscle) before they are damaged at the beginning of

the cell. The data suggest that scientists might have

been looking in the wrong place (i.e. wrong end of the

neuron) to find the earliest stages of the nerve

damage. Dr Glass has observed this type of damage in

both mice and humans. He went on to comment that these

results could have implications when studying why

motor neurons die and how to prevent or protect motor

neurons from dying. Further results and time will

determine whether Dr Glass has set a new " fashion " for

MND research!