Invertebrate genetic models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

LiJun Zhou; RenShi Xu

doi:10.3389/fnmol.2024.1328578

Invertebrate genetic models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Front Mol Neurosci. 2024 Mar 4:17:1328578. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1328578. eCollection 2024.

Authors

LiJun Zhou^{1

2}, RenShi Xu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, National Regional Center for Neurological Diseases, Clinical College of Nanchang Medical College, Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University Jiangxi Hospital, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
² Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a common adult-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive death of motor neurons in the cerebral cortex, brain stem, and spinal cord. The exact mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ALS remain unclear. The current consensus regarding the pathogenesis of ALS suggests that the interaction between genetic susceptibility and harmful environmental factors is a promising cause of ALS onset. The investigation of putative harmful environmental factors has been the subject of several ongoing studies, but the use of transgenic animal models to study ALS has provided valuable information on the onset of ALS. Here, we review the current common invertebrate genetic models used to study the pathology, pathophysiology, and pathogenesis of ALS. The considerations of the usage, advantages, disadvantages, costs, and availability of each invertebrate model will also be discussed.

Keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Drosophila melanogaster; FUS; SOD1; TDP-43; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; invertebrate models; yeast.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Open access funding was provided by the Committee of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82160255), Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology (20192BAB205043), and the Health and Family Planning Commission of Jiangxi Province (202210002 and 202310119).