Bisperoxovanadium promotes motor neuron survival in models of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Over the past few years, my lab has been working on a project involving bisperoxovanadium (bpV), which is a small molecule that plays an important role in a cellular pathway for the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a fatal motor neuron disease that results in neuromuscular degeneration, motor neuron death, and paralysis. Most individuals diagnosed with ALS only have about two to five years to live. We hypothesized that when mice modeling ALS are treated with bpV, motor neuron death and degeneration would be reduced, and prognosis improved. During this project I had the opportunity to look at spinal cord sections from different mice under a microscope to determine the effect that bpV had on inflammatory glial response in the spinal tissue. An in vitro model of ALS motor neuron degeneration and the examination of ALS mouse motor neurons under microscopy were also performed to help determine the effects of bpV. Treating ALS motor neurons in vitro improved cell survival and bpV therapy for about 20 days in mice showed a reduction in motor neuron loss in the spinal cord. The findings of this study indicate that bpV could be a neuroprotective therapy for ALS.

Supervisor: Dr. Chandler L. Walker
Department: Biomedical Sciences and Comprehensive Care