Identifying therapeutic combinations to reverse changes to RNA in stem cell models of MND.
Principal Investigator: Dr Bhuvanish Selvaraj
Lead Institution: University of Edinburgh
MND Association Funding: £400,597
Funding dates: October 2024 - March 2026
About the project
There is an urgent need to find new treatments for MND. However, the development and testing of new treatments can be a lengthy process. One of the ways in which this can be shortened is by repurposing drugs that are already known to be safe and are used to treat other conditions. This project aims to test multiple different repurposed drugs to identify any that may be beneficial for MND on their own or in combination with others. The researchers will use neurons made from healthy stem cells and stem cells from people with MND to compare the changes in RNA, a photocopy of DNA, that happen in the disease.
What could this mean for MND research?
It is hoped that this will increase understanding of the patterns of changes in RNA that are linked to MND and could highlight repurposed drugs that may target these changes, resucing the damage to motor neurons in MND. These drugs may then be tested in clinical trials such as MND-SMART to see if they can slow disease progression in people with the disease.
Project code: 2452-791