{"title":"Gene therapy breakthroughs in ALS: a beacon of hope for 20% of ALS patients.","authors":"Qingjian Xie, Kezheng Li, Yinuo Chen, Yaojia Li, Wenhua Jiang, Wen Cao, Huan Yu, Dongsheng Fan, Binbin Deng","doi":"10.1186/s40035-025-00477-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease that remains incurable. Although the etiologies of ALS are diverse and the precise pathogenic mechanisms are not fully understood, approximately 20% of ALS cases are caused by genetic factors. Therefore, advancing targeted gene therapies holds significant promise, at least for the 20% of ALS patients with genetic etiologies. In this review, we summarize the main strategies and techniques of current ALS gene therapies based on ALS risk genes, and review recent findings from animal studies and clinical trials. Additionally, we highlight ALS-related genes with well-understood pathogenic mechanisms and the potential of numerous emerging gene-targeted therapeutic approaches for ALS.</p>","PeriodicalId":23269,"journal":{"name":"Translational Neurodegeneration","volume":"14 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":10.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12001736/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Translational Neurodegeneration","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-025-00477-6","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease that remains incurable. Although the etiologies of ALS are diverse and the precise pathogenic mechanisms are not fully understood, approximately 20% of ALS cases are caused by genetic factors. Therefore, advancing targeted gene therapies holds significant promise, at least for the 20% of ALS patients with genetic etiologies. In this review, we summarize the main strategies and techniques of current ALS gene therapies based on ALS risk genes, and review recent findings from animal studies and clinical trials. Additionally, we highlight ALS-related genes with well-understood pathogenic mechanisms and the potential of numerous emerging gene-targeted therapeutic approaches for ALS.
期刊介绍:
Translational Neurodegeneration, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal, addresses all aspects of neurodegenerative diseases. It serves as a prominent platform for research, therapeutics, and education, fostering discussions and insights across basic, translational, and clinical research domains. Covering Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions, it welcomes contributions on epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, drug development, rehabilitation, and drug delivery. Scientists, clinicians, and physician-scientists are encouraged to share their work in this specialized journal tailored to their fields.