Mapping the origin and onset of MND – transcriptomic profiling of motor neuron populations in MND

Motor neuron disease (MND) is an adult-onset and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that results from combined upper and lower motor neuron loss. Although MND presents late in life, there is increasing evidence for a long preclinical or presymptomatic period before diagnosis of overt clinical symptoms.

This project will employ cutting-edge transcriptomic analysis to understand where and when the disease begins. We will specifically isolate spinal and corticospinal motor neurons at key developmental stages in transgenic MND mice (SOD1, TDP-43, FUS, C9ORF72). Using RNAseq and pathway analysis we aim to determine the time of onset, and the origin of disease susceptibility in the respective MND mice. This project is likely to yield proximal gene candidates that seed the development of MND for future target validation and functional studies.

This project will employ transgenic mice, neuroanatomy, next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, molecular biology and biochemical techniques