What Causes And Increases The Risk Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?

Mishandled Proteins

It is important that proteins are appropriately recycled within the cells since this helps neurons function at their best. When a protein gets mishandled, the cell gets harmed to the point it cannot maintain or repair itself. This mishandling allows a buildup of these now abnormal proteins to accrue, which leads to the deaths of nerve cells. The deaths of these nerve cells mean the muscles in the body do not receive the messages they need from the brain and become weaker over time. As time goes on, the patient is less able to function physically. One of the proteins identified as being mishandled is called ubiquilin 2. In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, it becomes mutated and results in the formation of a non-working ubiquilin 2 enzyme, which is what triggers the accumulation of abnormal proteins.

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