Stories 
The aim of this study was to investigate if there were differences in the gut microbiota and the chemicals they produce in people with Alzheimer’s Disease or healthy controls. By investigating the changes in our gut microbiota, scientists can find potential targets for treatments or markers of disease to help with diagnosis.
Focussing on the effect of mutant FUS in astrocytes alone can isolate the impact that these cells might have in ALS, making it easier to identify a potential treatment target. This would be of benefit for patients with ALS, as there are currently very few treatments available.
Spinal-onset ALS and bulbar-onset ALS are often grouped as a single disease, however this work suggests that there could be important and onset-specific differences in the microbial composition of the mouth and gut that could act as drivers of disease. This study highlights not only the importance of better categorising ALS types, but also how bacterial balance disruption could represent an important therapeutic target for people with ALS. This is particularly important as it indicates that different drugs could be more effective in different scenarios.
In this study, Cav-1 was chosen as a gene therapy candidate. Tests were performed to see whether Cav-1 gene therapy in an experimental mouse model of AD (PSAPP1) could improve higher brain function. PSAPP mice exhibit learning and memory deficits at 9 and 11 months, respectively, which is associated with decreased expression of Cav-1. Thus, this study provides vital information about how beneficial Cav-1 gene therapy can be in an AD mouse model and suggestive of further assessment in other neurodegenerative diseases.
Brain imaging tools can detect brain differences associated with dementia and can be used to predict which patients with cognitive impairment might progress to developing Alzheimer’s disease. However, the use of brain imaging to diagnose Alzheimer’s is currently limited to assessment of brain shrinkage, which is unable to capture the disorder early enough for effective treatments and therapies. Therefore, exploring new methods such as Alzheimer’s-related changes in brain connectivity might results in earlier and more accurate diagnosis.
This study further supports the theory that defects in the removal of faulty mitochondria (mitophagy) play an important role in Alzheimer’s disease, and restoring this process might be an effective therapeutic approach. The authors designed a new method to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) combined with testing in various cell and animal models to identify potential compounds.