110% Gratitude to All Our Volunteers

April marks National Volunteer Month. This observance holds very special meaning for all of us here at the Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS (R.A.S.C.A.L.S.). That’s because we are a 100% all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. There are no administrative costs.
That means no salaries, payments, or perks for anyone. Out-of-pocket expenses truly means out of our [...]

Categories: 501(c)(3) Non-Profit, ALS Community News, ALS Families, ALS News, RASCALS Foundation News, Treatments  |  Tags: 501(c)(3) ALS charity, ALS, ALS Awareness Month, ALS community, ALS cure, ALS diagnosis, ALS diagnostics, ALS donations, ALS funding, ALS medical care, ALS research, ALS research funding, ALS treatments, ALS volunteers, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Bob Stehlin, Lou Gehrig's disease, PALS, RASCALS Foundation, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis  |  No comments

NEALS SOD1 Research is First Antisense Oligonucleotide Trial for a Central Nervous System Disorder

Antisense Oligonucleotides May be Feasible ALS Therapeutic Strategy

BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 29, 2013 — Published online today in Lancet Neurology, an SOD1-related familial ALS trial under the direction of NEALS researchers Timothy Miller, MD, PhD (Washington University School of Medicine) and Merit Cudkowicz (Massachusetts General Hospital) indicates that antisense oligonucleotide delivery to the central nervous system may [...]

Categories: ALS Community News, ALS News, Clinical Trials, Research News, Treatments  |  Tags: ALS, ALS community, ALS treatments, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, antisense oligonucleotide, Bob Stehlin, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ALS, ISIS 333611, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Johns Hopkins University, Lou Gehrig's disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Merit Cudkowicz, Methodist Neurological Institute, MGH Neurological Clinical Research Institute (NCRI), Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS), PALS, RASCALS Foundation, RNA ALS, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, SOD-1, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis, Timothy Miller, Washington University in St. Louis, Washington University School of Medicine  |  No comments

‘RNA Sponge’ Mechanism May Cause ALS/FTD Neurodegeneration

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have demonstrated that this ALS/FTD mutation may be harmful because it creates an “RNA sponge,” soaking up an important regulatory protein that binds RNA.

Categories: ALS News, Research News  |  Tags: ALS, ALS community, ALS medical care, ALS research, ALS research funding, ALS treatments, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bob Stehlin, C9ORF72 gene, C9orf72 mutations, Emory University School of Medicine, frontotemporal dementia FTD, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Lou Gehrig's disease, Mickael Poidevin, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS051630 and R21NS067461), PALS, Peng Jin, RASCALS Foundation, RNA ALS, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis, Thomas Wingo, Zihui Xu  |  No comments

Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover New Clues About How ALS Develops

The researchers also found, to their surprise, that suppressing an ALS-causing gene in oligodendrocytes of mice bred with the disease—while still allowing the gene to remain in the motor neurons—profoundly delayed the onset of ALS. It also prolonged survival of these mice by more than three months, a long time in the life span of a mouse. These observations suggest that oligodendrocytes play a very significant role in the early stage of the disease.

Categories: ALS News, Research News, Treatments  |  Tags: ALS, ALS Association, ALS community, ALS donations, ALS research, ALS research funding, ALS treatments, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Bob Stehlin, Brain Science Institute, central nervous system cell ALS, Dwight E. Bergles, Ileana Lorenzini, Jeffrey D. Rothstein, Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Lou Gehrig's disease, Lyle Ostrow, motor neurons ALS, myelin loss, myelin loss ALS, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS 051509), National Institutes of Health (NIH), oligodendrocytes, P2ALS, RASCALS Foundation, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins, Shin H. Kang, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis, Ying Li  |  No comments

Cytokinetics Inc. Announces Initiation of First-Time-in-Humans, Phase I Clinical Trial of CK-2127107

Cytokinetics, Incorporated announced today the initiation of a first-time-in-humans, Phase I clinical trial of CK-2127107 in healthy male volunteers. Cytokinetics is developing CK-2127107, a novel small molecule activator of the fast skeletal muscle troponin complex, for the potential improvement of skeletal muscle function in diseases and medical conditions associated with neuromuscular dysfunction, muscular weakness, and/or muscle fatigue. Like tirasemtiv, the lead drug candidate from the company’s skeletal muscle activator program, CK-2127107 slows the rate of calcium release from the regulatory troponin complex of fast skeletal muscle fibers, which sensitizes the sarcomere to calcium.

Categories: ALS News, Clinical Trials, Research News, Treatments, Uncategorized  |  Tags: ALS, ALS community, ALS funding, ALS medical care, ALS research, ALS research funding, ALS treatments, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Background on Fast Skeletal Muscle Activators ALS, BENEFIT-ALS (Blinded Evaluation of Neuromusclar Effects and Functional Improvement with Tirasemtiv in ALS), Bob Stehlin, CK-2127107, Cytokinetics Incorporated, Fady Malik, Lou Gehrig's disease, novel mechanism ALS, PALS, Phase I clinical trial, Phase I clinical trial CK-2127107, RASCALS Foundation, Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS, Robert I. Blum, St.Louis RASCALS ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease amotrophic lateral sclerosis, tirasemtiv ALS  |  No comments