The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) announced on the 8th that a collaborative research project between the university and the University of Oxford in the UK has revealed a new pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which will help open up new treatment pathways for the disease. According to researchers from CUHK, ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the brain and spinal cord in adults, leading to muscle weakness, loss of coordination, and ultimately respiratory failure. There is still no cure for this disease. To determine the therapeutic targets for "ALS", a team led by Professor Chen Haoran from the School of Life Sciences at CUHK conducted research on the potential mechanisms of gene transcription regulation in "ALS" and demonstrated that a transcription factor named "YY1" dysfunctions in the spinal motor function of "ALS" patients, activating a signaling pathway that leads to "ALS". This provides a new understanding of the pathological process of ALS and can serve as a drug target for treating the disease. Chen Haoran stated that revealing potential disease mechanisms can not only help researchers better understand the pathogenesis of ALS, but more importantly, provide guidance for developing new candidate drugs to combat this deadly disease. The research findings have been published in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Communications. (Lai Xin She)