These projects aim to test the effectiveness of potential treatments from the laboratory to clinical trials. A selection of the newest of these projects are highlighted below.
Download our research we fund information sheet for details of all of the projects we fund.
Development of a new strategy to prevent damage to motor neurones from over-active communication
- Dr Philip Chen, Prof George Dickson, Dr Linda Popplewell ·
- Royal Holloway, University of London ·
- Grant awarded: £88,924 (PhD studentship) over three years
- Start date: 1 October 2012
- Our ref:6281 Oct11
Signals are transmitted from one motor neurone to the next via chemical messengers, which interact with receptor proteins on the neurone’s surface. In MND one receptor, known as AMPAR, can be incorrectly formed, resulting in over-active communication and ultimately leading to neuronal damage. The correct formation of AMPAR requires accurate editing of its genetic assembly instructions. This project will investigate whether small strands of DNA, known as ‘antisense oligonucleotides’ can be used to improve the efficiency of this editing process, resulting in more properly formed AMPARs and making the neurone more resistant to damage.
Developing potential new drugs for the treatment of MND
- Dr Marcus Rattray, Prof Joe Sweeney
- University of Reading
- Grant awarded: £28,403 (PhD studentship) over three years
- Start date: October 2011
- Our Ref: 6279 Jun11
This project aims to make improvements to riluzole, the only drug currently licensed to treat MND. By generating hundreds of derivatives of riluzole, testing them for their ability to protect motor neurones, and then further modifying the most promising, the researchers hope to generate a substance that improves on the very modest effectiveness of the existing drug. The work will also provide insights into the exact way in which riluzole works, as this is not fully understood at the moment.
How does TDP-43 become misshapen in MND and is there a treatment that can stop this?
- Dr John Christodoulou and Prof Christopher Dobson
- University of Cambridge ·
- Grant awarded: £86,986 (PhD Studentship)over three years
- Start date: October 2011
- Our ref: 6273 Apr 11
This studentship project will be investigating how and why a protein called TDP-43 clumps together to cause MND in order to generate new treatments that can target this process.
