A Dual-Approach, Synthetic Biology Solution to ALS, Targeting Stress Granules and TDP-43 Aggregation in the Brain
Under cellular stress in ALS, stress granules become dysfunctional and form additional "organelles". Excessive SG formation and dysfunction is linked to pathological TDP-43 protein aggregation in neurons.
We have developed novel antisense oligonucleotides to knock down proteins implicated in stress granule formation.
Furthermore, we used computational modeling and in-vitro testing to create a RNA aptamer that prevents the formation of TDP-43 aggregates.
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Watch our project overview video on iGEM: Click here to view the video