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Neuroinflammation and ALS: Transcriptomic Insights into Molecular Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.

ABSTRACT: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the motor nervous system. Despite the mechanism underlying motor neuron death is not yet clarified, multiple pathogenic processes have been proposed to account for ALS. Among these, inflammatory/immune responses have recently gained particular interest, although there are conflicting reports on the role of these processes in ALS pathogenesis and treatment. This apparent discrepancy may be due to the absence of an effective stratification of ALS patients into subgroups with markedly different clinical, biological, and molecular features. Our research group recently described genome-wide characterization of motor cortex samples from sporadic ALS (SALS) patients, revealing the existence of molecular and functional heterogeneity in SALS. Here, we reexamine data coming from our previous work, focusing on transcriptomic changes of inflammatory-related genes, in order to investigate their potential contribution in ALS. A total of 1573 inflammatory genes were identified as differentially expressed between SALS patients and controls, characterizing distinct topological pathways and networks, suggestive of specific inflammatory molecular signatures for different patient subgroups. Besides providing promising insights into the intricate relationship between inflammation and ALS, this paper represents a starting point for the rationale design and development of novel and more effective diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

SUBMITTER: Morello G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5610842 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Neuroinflammation and ALS: Transcriptomic Insights into Molecular Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.

Morello Giovanna G Spampinato Antonio Gianmaria AG Cavallaro Sebastiano S

Mediators of inflammation 20170907

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the motor nervous system. Despite the mechanism underlying motor neuron death is not yet clarified, multiple pathogenic processes have been proposed to account for ALS. Among these, inflammatory/immune responses have recently gained particular interest, although there are conflicting reports on the role of these processes in ALS pathogenesis and treatment. This apparent discrepancy may be due to the absence of an effect ...[more]

PMID: 29081603

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Dataset Information

Neuroinflammation and ALS: Transcriptomic Insights into Molecular Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.

Publications

Neuroinflammation and ALS: Transcriptomic Insights into Molecular Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets.

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