Oct. 6, 2006 Scientists have identified a misfolded, or
incorrectly formed, protein common to two devastating
neurological diseases, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's
disease), according to a report in the Oct. 6, 2006, issue of
Science. The findings suggest that certain forms of FTD, ALS and
possibly other neurological diseases might share a common
pathological process. Virginia Lee, Ph.D., and John Trojanowski,
M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, led an
international team of scientists in this discovery. The work was
funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), and was done at the NIA-
funded Alzheimer's Disease Center at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine Institute on Aging. "This
exciting basic science discovery provides the first molecular
link between a dementia--FTD--and a motor neuron disease--ALS.
It will advance understanding of the pathological processes of F