Evidence Mounts That Mitochondrial Gene Is Bona Fide ALS, FTD Risk Factor

Just three months after a paper outed a gene for a mitochondrial protein as a potential cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia, four new publications have made the case clear. CHCHD10 is an ALS/FTD spectrum gene.

A handful of different mutations in the gene (whose acronym stands for the tongue twister coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain containing 10) cause a range of symptoms comprising ALS-FTD, ALS, and also mitochondrial myopathy, according to the studies.