ICGEB Molecular Pathology Group receives funding from AriSLA

The Molecular Pathology Group at ICGEB Trieste, headed by Dr. Emanuele Buratti, has received funding to further its research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis from the Italian Foundation for Research on ALS.

Milan, 4 November 2022

The “NOSRESCUEALS” project coordinated by Dr. Emanuele Buratti is one of six Italian research projects centred on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) selected to receive the 2022 Italian Foundation for Research on ASL (AriSLA) grant. This pre-clinical research project will be funded for a total of 240,000 euro over a 3-year period.

The news was announced at the Scientific Conference on Research, Development and Innovation in the field of ASL held this week, which focused on the progress achieved in recent years in the research on ALS in Italy.

NOSRESCUEALS continues the AriSLA-funded research study, “PathensTDP”, which identified a gene, NOS1AP, whose expression is reduced in ALS patients and may be able to reduce the toxicity connected to the loss of TDP-43 protein function in patients’ neural cells.  This new project aims to understand the structure and physiological role of NOS1AP in the organisation of the human motor system, in order to identify small molecules which can increase its expression in cells.

Partners on this project include the IRCCS Santa Lucia, Rome and the Department of Life and the University of Cagliari.

Dr. Buratti’s Lab will also Partner in another grant-winning project coordinated by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, which studies the chemical modification of the TDP-43 protein (at the centre of current research on ALS), and its solubility under stress conditions, and how this influences its aggregation and functionality in the RNA metabolism.

(L-R) Head of the AriSLA Scientific Department, Anna Ambrosini, Dr. Emanuele Buratti, Dr. Alessandro Rosa, Dr. Serena Carra, Dr. Tania Zaglia and the President of AriSLA, Mario Melazzini at the award ceremony of the AriSLA grant for research on ALS