Another seminar organized within the SAME–NeuroID project will focus on the latest therapeutic strategies for patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Professor Richard Robitaille from the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Montreal will give his lecture on 3 April at 14:00 at Łukasiewicz – PORT.
In his talk, Prof. Robitaille will highlight the importance of research on the degeneration of neuromuscular junctions, which represents one of the earliest pathological events in ALS, occurring well before the onset of muscle weakness and paralysis.
The lecture will present results from ex vivo and in vivo experiments demonstrating that the local microenvironment plays a critical role in shaping the denervation process in ALS. Seminar participants will also learn about the key involvement of glial cells at different stages of disease progression.
In the section devoted to preclinical data, Prof. Robitaille will discuss how improving innervation at neuromuscular junctions, enhancing muscle function, and extending patient survival are becoming increasingly achievable goals.
In addition, the Professor’s laboratory is running collaborative programs aimed at the identification and validation of neuromuscular junction components as potential disease biomarkers, including approaches based on blood samples. Access to patient tissues and the ability to compare datasets across different research centers represent an important step toward the development of standardized methods for analyzing nervous system dysfunctions, which is one of the core objectives of the SAME–NeuroID project.
