ALS United Mid-Atlantic Announces Support for Major ALS TDI Initiative

This summer, the ALS United Mid-Atlantic research committee chose ALS TDI as one of the recipients of a grant to expand on promising ALS studies. This grant will benefit the BioTek 8 Incubator, which will significantly expand the volume of tests that ALS TDI can run using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

Investing in this project demonstrates ALS United Mid-Atlantic’s commitment to the urgency of ALS research. People living with ALS today agree on the need to expedite quality ALS research studies to move science closer to better treatments and a cure. Partnering with ALS TDI is an important step towards making these goals a reality.

“ALS United Mid-Atlantic is proud and excited to collaborate with ALS TDI to advance promising research,” said Jeff Cline, Executive Director with ALS United Mid-Atlantic. “Projects like this put the power in the hands of scientists and those living with ALS as we team up towards a common goal. Today’s partnership is a sign of a brighter future for the ALS cause.”

ALS TDI BioTek 8-Plate Automated Incubator
The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is the largest drug discovery lab dedicated exclusively to finding treatments for ALS. Based in Watertown, MA, ALS TDI’s team of researchers works tirelessly to understand ALS and advance promising treatments.

Studying ALS in cellular models of the disease is a key part of ALS TDI’s research approach. Cellular models allow researchers to learn about how the disease works at a fundamental level and to conduct rapid, high-volume testing of many different potential treatments.

One of the most effective cellular models used at ALS TDI are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). IPSCs are created through a process that allows researchers to “differentiate,” or change, cells taken from anywhere in the body back to the state of stem cell. Then, these stem cells can be further differentiated into any other type of cell.

This allows ALS TDI researcher to take skin cell samples from people living with ALS and create cells similar to motor neurons – the cells affected by ALS. They can then observe the characteristics and behaviors of these cells to gain insights into the disease’s underlying mechanisms, progression, and potential therapeutic targets.

To conduct these experiments, ALS TDI’s Cell Biology team has developed several live-cell imaging tests. These tests involve preparing neurons on microplates and analyzing them under a high-powered microscope. The tests include tracking motor neuron survival over time, studying neurite outgrowth, monitoring axon regeneration, examining lysosomal movement within cells, and measuring electrical activity in neurons using calcium imaging.

Previously, ALS TDI researchers had to manually prepare and load each microplate one at a time, making the process labor-intensive and time-consuming. With the addition of the BioTek 8-plate automated incubator, scientists can now collect data from up to 8 plates simultaneously, instead of loading them individually. This upgrade allows us to scale up our imaging experiments, gather data continuously, and free up researchers to focus on other critical tasks, such as conducting additional experiments and analyzing results. This efficiency boost will accelerate our progress in understanding and combating ALS.