Anti-Enzyme Compound Prolongs
Survival in ALS-Destined Mice

The laboratory of M. Flint Beal, an MDA research grantee at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, was part of a group that recently found that mice genetically destined to develop ALS live longer if they’re given Ro26-2853 at 1 month of age.

Ro26-2853 is an inhibitor of metalloproteinases (MMPs), enzymes that digest components of the gluelike matrix that surrounds and protects nerve and other cells.

Previous studies have shown that there are fragmented, widely separated and possibly “digested” bundles of this gluelike material in the spinal cords of people with ALS.

In the current study, published online March 2 in Experimental Neurology, Stefan Lorenzl, with colleagues in Germany, found that mice with genetic ALS have higher than normal MMP activity in their spinal cords.

When the investigators gave Ro26-2853 to 1-month-old mice destined to develop ALS because of a genetic mutation but so far not showing symptoms, the animals lived an average of 13 days (11 percent) longer than an untreated group.

However, when they gave the compound to 3-month-old mice, after ALS symptoms were already apparent, it didn’t significantly improve survival time.