A recent research study identified a previously unknown cellular process that causes selective motor neuron degeneration

A recent research study identified a previously unknown cellular process that causes selective motor neuron degeneration, but it also appears to tie together several of the pieces of the pathological jigsaw in motor neuron disease:

  • disruption of RNA metabolism
  • oxidative stress and
  • programmed cell death pathways

Published in the journal Nature, from an international consortium, led by the scientists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, the researchers created a mouse that has a defect in an enzyme called CLP1 and these mice develop progressive motor neuron degeneration.

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http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v495/n7442/full/nature11923.html