Lou Gehrig disease which has no cure is finally seeing a ray of hope thanks to Tel Aviv University researchers. The disease also called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a neurodegenerative issue which causes muscles to atrophy and produces permanent disability in patients. The investigators say they may have found the basis of what could become a treatment for the devastating disease.

 “While we are not claiming we have found the cure for ALS, we have certainly moved the field forward,” Dr. Eran Perlson of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who led the study, said in a statement. “The main purpose of the study was to gain details into the cause of the disease and the method behind it. So we focused on the area in which motor neurons interact with the muscles — the areas first to be damaged by ALS” added Perlson.

The research shows that people who are affected by the disease have a higher level of muscle toxicity which causes the damage; the researchers found that this higher toxicity occurred when there is a reduced level of microRNA; MicroRNAs are small molecules that control the translation of proteins and play an important role in many other cellular processes. The study has also found an increase in the number of receptors.

Perlson and co-worker used mice models that were made to carry the ALS, the team then injected the mice with a virus carrying the miR126-25. As a result, the mice recovered and were able to walk, all basic features of the disease showed significant improvement.

 “We demonstrated in lab work and on mouse models that we can successfully ameliorate ALS symptoms using this miR as a potential drug,” Dr. Perlson said in the statement. “We further demonstrated motor neurons— undoubtedly involved in the progression of ALS.”