Scientists offer hope to ALS sufferers

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SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Scientists in San Diego have found a way to slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in mice, offering hope to those with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Don Cleveland of the University of California's San Diego School of Medicine said the new technique involved specifically targeting neuronal support cells known as astrocytes, Nature Neuroscience reported Sunday.

"Mutant genes that cause ALS are expressed widely, not just in the motor neurons," the professor of medicine said. "Targeting the partner cells like astrocytes, which live in a synergistic environment with the neuron cells, helps stop the 'cascade of damage.' Therapeutically, this is the big news."

By removing the mutant gene from those atrocytes, Cleveland and his fellow researchers found mice with ALS lived twice as long as those who kept the offending gene.

UPI