Single-molecule detection of the cytotoxic species in Motor Neuron Disease

Motor neuron diseases (MND) have drastic and very debilitating effects on patients. The most common form of MND is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
This project aims to utilise advanced microscopy techniques and methods to study individual molecules in order to investigate the role of a key pathogenic event in ALS, the aggregation of the protein species TAR-DNA binding protein (TDP-43).
This protein "clumping" process is one of the few molecular events common to almost all ALS patients. It is therefore anticipated that a deeper understanding of this event, and how it confers toxicity to cells, will allow the development of therapies relevant to most ALS patients.
The combination of novel, highly specific imaging probes to target TDP-43 and fluorescence microscopy that allows imaging in solution, cells and patient tissue provides a strong platform to carry out this research.