A close look at aging (senescent) cells in ALS brain and spinal cord
Official title: High Resolution Profiling of Senescent Cells in ALS Brain and Spinal Cord
Funded at St. Louis VA Medical Center · NIH-11506358 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers will map aged (senescent) cells in brain and spinal cord tissue from people with ALS to learn how those cells might drive disease progression.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | St. Louis VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (St. Louis, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | October 1, 2022 |
| Project end | September 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 7I01BX005717-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11506358 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with ALS (especially veterans) who are willing to arrange postmortem donation of brain and spinal cord tissue to the VA biorepository.
✕Less likely to help
People without ALS or those seeking immediate clinical treatments are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this postmortem tissue research.
What this research studies
This project uses donated postmortem brain and spinal cord tissue from people with ALS, accessed mainly through the VA ALS Brain Bank, and groups samples by whether they have TDP-43 protein clumps. Scientists will apply high-resolution GeoMx digital spatial profiling to measure genes and proteins in neurons and surrounding cells to detect signs of cellular senescence and harmful secreted factors. They will compare TDP-43–positive and TDP-43–negative samples to see if protein accumulation triggers a senescence response that could promote chronic tissue damage. The work aims to pinpoint specific cell types and molecular signals that could become targets for future therapies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify cellular mechanisms to target — for example by removing or neutralizing senescent cells — that might slow ALS progression.
How similar studies have gone: Related animal and lab studies link senescent cells to neurodegeneration and show senolytic approaches can help in models, but high-resolution profiling of senescent neurons in human ALS tissue is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
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St. Louis VA Medical Center
St. Louis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Orr, Miranda Ethel — St. Louis VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Orr, Miranda Ethel
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.