Recent advances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common motor neuron disease in adults. Despite several genetic breakthroughs, the actual cause and mechanism of neurodegeneration in ALS remains a mystery. Nevertheless, recent scientific and clinical advances have led to the development of new therapeutic strategies for this progressive, fatal disorder. We review the progress of the most recent clinical trials in ALS, taking into account some of the hurdles encountered by these studies. We also discuss the potential role of retroviral infection as a cause or contributor to ALS, which is one of the most recent hypotheses for the pathogenesis of the disease. The genetic background of ALS is summarized and special attention is given to the newly identified ALS gene ALS2, and to those that are currently being investigated. The last part of this review is dedicated to the mutation in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1). The hypothesized deleterious mechanisms of mutant SOD1 are discussed, as well as the possibilities that the mutant protein activates the apoptotic cell death process and that these molecular alterations can be exploited to devise experimental neuroprotective therapies.