Publication overview

Research center

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Worcester, USA

University of Massachusetts Medical School

About the center

The ALS Association has committed $1 million to Project MinE for an international effort to sequence the genomes of at least 15,000 people with ALS and 7,500 control persons. The funding will be used to bring this effort to the United States with the goal of sequencing the genomes of 1,000 people with the disease. Large-scale whole-genome sequencing of many individuals with ALS plays a key role in gaining a better understanding this disease and finding new treatments for it. The Association has partnered the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachussetts, and Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. John Landers, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Jonathan Glass, M.D., Emory, will lead this project.

Sequenced genomes will become part of a worldwide ALS genome database and made available to ALS researchers for investigations into the causes of the disease. In addition, Project MinE researchers will collect tissue samples that can be used for development of stem cell lines, a key tool in ALS research.

John Landers

Professor, Neurology Department

University of Massachusetts Medical School

John Landers

Professor, Neurology Department

Dr. Landers’ career has mainly focused on using new and high-throughput technologies for the identification of disease genes with a particular focus on ALS. His laboratory was part of a collaboration that identified the FUS gene as a significant contributor of familial ALS. His lab also headed the research of a genome wide association study that identified the KIFAP3 gene as a modifier of survival in ALS patients. He has subsequently been a collaborator on numerous follow-up genome wide association studies. Through his long-standing interest of novel technologies, his lab is now currently focused on using next-generation sequencing approaches to identify additional genes contributing to ALS. This includes using whole-genome sequencing, RNA-Seq and exome capture/sequencing. This effort has led to the identification of mutations in PFN1 in familial ALS. PFN1 is a regulator of actin polymerization further emphasizing the role of cytoskeletal genes in the pathogenesis of ALS. Through the Project MinE collaborative effort, they hope to further extend our understanding of the genetics of ALS.