Taxonomy Meets Neurology, the Case of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Front Neurosci. 2018 Sep 26:12:673. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00673. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Recent landmark publications from our research group outline a transformative approach to defining, studying and treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Rather than approaching ALS as a single entity, we advocate targeting therapies to distinct "clusters" of patients based on their specific genomic and molecular features. Our findings point to the existence of a molecular taxonomy for ALS, bringing us a step closer to the establishment of a precision medicine approach in neurology practice.

Keywords: ALS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; molecular taxonomy; multiomic analysis; neurodegenerative disease; personalized medicine; signaling pathways.