SCIENTISTS have identified cells key to motor neurone disease (MND) and hope the research breakthrough brings a cure a step closer.
There is currently no known cure for the degenerative condition, which causes signals from motor neurone nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord needed to control movement to gradually stop reaching the muscles.
Researchers used stem cell technology to identify a type of cell that can cause motor neurones to fail. Using stem cells from patient skin samples, they found glial cells, which normally support neurones in the brain and spinal cord, become damaging to motor neurones in the patients with the condition.
By testing different combinations of glial cells and motor neurones grown together in the lab, researchers found glial cells from MND patients can cause motor neurones in healthy people to stop producing the electrical signals needed to control muscles.
The research was carried out by scientists at St Andrews and Edinburgh universities.
Professor Gareth Miles, an expert in neuroscience at University of St Andrews, said: “We are very excited by these new findings, which clearly point the finger at glial cells as key players in this devastating disease.
“Interestingly, the negative influence of glial cells seems to prevent motor neurones from fulfilling their normal roles, even before the motor neurones show signs of dying. We hope that this new information highlights targets for the development of much-needed treatments and ultimately a cure for MND.”
The joint research, funded by the Motor Neurone Disease Association, MND Scotland and the Medical Research Council and Dementia Research Institute, Edinburgh, was published in the scientific journal Glia.
MND is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to paralysis because it attacks motor neurones, a special type of nerve cell in the brain and spinal cord that generates the electrical signals needed to control all of our movements.
Research on the prevalence of MND in Scotland, published in March this year, confirmed that around 200 new cases are confirmed every year and there are approximately 400 people living with the disease in Scotland at any one time. It can be diagnosed at any age, but the average age of onset is 65.
Rates of the disease in Scotland are higher than in any other European country and 66 per cent higher than the average for Northern European populations, although the reasons are unclear.
READ MORE: Five-year-olds from poorest households in Scotland twice as likely to be obese
No link to social deprivation has been found, and research is continuing into possible genetic factors or potential environmental causes such as exposure to viruses, toxins and chemicals.
Incidence, adjusted for age to take into account the older popular, has also been shown to have climbed by around 36 per cent in the past 20 years although much of this increase is believed to be down to better diagnosis and recording.
The latest research comes after former Scotland rugby star and MND sufferer Doddie Weir was recognised on Sunday with the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year for his work fundraising for research into the condition.
Physicist Stephen Hawking was one of the world’s most famous MND sufferers until his death in 2018. He was diagnosed aged 21 but defied the odds to survive another 55 years.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article