Congratulations to Miller Lab member Mariah L. Hoye on her publication!
Mariah is a PhD candidate who is studying microRNAs, which are small compounds that regulate a variety of processes in the body, and their role in ALS disease progression. Her manuscript that investigates microRNAs specific to motor neurons in ALS rodent models was recently accepted for publication by The Journal of Neuroscience.
“We identified small biomolecules that are abundant in motor neurons, the cells that are most affected in ALS,” Mariah explains. “When motor neurons die in ALS, they release these molecules and we can measure them in cerebral spinal fluid of ALS rodents. The release of these molecules tracks with disease progression and can be halted by a familial ALS drug (currently in clinical trials). We are now trying to measure this motor neuron marker in human ALS patient cerebral spinal fluid.”