Together We Will Victory ELA supports one of the IIS Aragón groups to advance research into this disease

The “LAGENBIO (TERAGEN and REGENERAGEN)” research group, led by Rosario Osta, receives a donation from this association so that three of its lines of research on ALS can advance in their development.

The asociación Together We Will Defeat ALS recently made a financial donation to the IIS Aragón group “LAGENBIO (TERAGEN and REGENERAGEN)” with the aim of joining efforts so that research into this disease continues.

To know Together We Will Defeat ALSFirst you have to know to Jorge Murillo: man living in Madrid, and suffering from ALS. He and his need for this disease to have the greatest visibility made the creation of this association possible.

The IIS Aragón research group, led by Rosario Osta, will allocate this aid to three lines of research on which they are currently working:

Detection of Specific Biomarkers as Diagnostic and Prognostic Tools

a) RNA metabolism

In the field of transcriptional regulation and protein interactions, circular RNAs (cirRNAs) and lncRNAs play essential roles. Our research focuses on analyzing the expression of cirRNA and lncRNA in the spinal cord and skeletal muscle of ALS animal models compared to WT subjects. The results obtained are being extrapolated to patients, exploring their viability as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers with the perspective of improved future clinical application.

Development of New Therapies: preclinical trials

a) Drug Replacement and Exploration of Other Compounds

In our line of research, we evaluate new therapies using the animal model of ALS (SOD1G93A mouse). To increase the robustness of our trials, we collaborate with other research groups, allowing the validation of therapies in various environments of different laboratories to successfully reach a clinical trial.

Furthermore, more fundamentally, we are exploring deregulation of mitochondrial dynamics as a therapeutic target. We have observed a hyperactivation of molecules involved in mitochondrial fission in the skeletal muscle of the SOD1G93A ALS model. These findings suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction could contribute to disease progression, aggravating the pathogenesis of ALS. Therefore, we are investigating the possibility of mitochondrial dynamics becoming a therapeutic target for disease treatment.

b) Deregulation of the Microbiota

This line of research focuses on the study of the intestinal microbiota both in the animal model and in patients with ALS. We seek to understand if intestinal dysbiosis can influence the motor activity and survival of animals, as well as clinical progression in patients. Furthermore, we evaluated the possibility of correcting this dysbiosis through dietary interventions in the animal model. We are currently in the preclinical phases of the study.