ALS-FTD team Research
Our research activity is entirely dedicated to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), two related neurodegenerative diseases considered as the two extremes of a genetic, pathological and clinical continuum.
Because ALS and FTD can be either familial or sporadic, we develop two parallel approaches. The first one, based on the identification of associated genes, allows the development of cellular and animal models to investigate gene-specific pathophysiological mechanisms and inform the development of therapeutic strategies and biomarkers for familial cases. The second one builds on the clinical signs or biomarkers of the disease that are present both in sporadic and familial cases and that, when recapitulated in different and complementary animal models, allow the investigation of their pathophysiological ground and the development of therapies for all types of patients.
So far, we have successfully followed both strategies, with a gene-based approach focused on SOD1, FUS and CHMP2B genes, and a sign/biomarker-based approach focused on the muscular impairment, metabolic deficits and spasticity.