A fruit-fly study links glial Fos activity to inflammation and motor decline in an ALS model
Original source
Fos regulates age-dependent neuroinflammation in a VAPP58S model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. (opens in a new tab)Compass summarised this from the study's abstract.
Study details
- Studied in
- Human, Animal
Researchers created a fruit-fly model carrying the ALS-linked VAPB P58S mutation. In the flies, inflammation increased with age in brain glial cells, while increasing activity of the Fos equivalent Kayak in those cells reduced inflammation and improved motor function. Reducing Kayak had the opposite effects.
Why this matters
The findings point to glial-cell inflammation and Fos-related signalling as possible mechanisms involved in disease progression. This was an experiment in fruit flies, so it does not change treatment for people with ALS and does not show that targeting Fos will help patients.
Limitations and context
The study used genetically engineered fruit flies, not people. Its findings need to be tested in mammalian models and human disease before their relevance to ALS treatment can be assessed.