ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig Disease.

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Researchers at the Dalhousie Medical School and the Brain Repair Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have successfully stimulated muscle fibers directly by light, bypassing the nervous system and showing for the first time that it is possible to restore function to denervated muscles. The research study, entitled Direct optical activation of skeletal muscle fibers efficiently controls muscle contraction and attenuates denervation atrophy was published in Nature Communications.

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The researchers genetically engineered an ion channel, responsive to light, into a strain of mice whole muscles contracted when exposed to Blue LED light.

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Dr. Victor Rafuse, professor in the Department of Medical Neuroscience and Director of the Brain Repair Centre, commented on the research breakthrough, “We’ve found we can prevent atrophy in completely denervated muscles by shining light on them through the skin for an hour a day. Others have used light to successfully stimulate nerves, but we are the first to bypass the nerves and go straight to the muscles. This is vital, because the nerve tissue is completely destroyed in many injuries and in diseases like ALS, so you can’t rely on stimulating nerves to activate muscles”.

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Importantly, these findings could also mean a new therapy angle for ALS patients, a disease characterized by neurodegeneration that leads to the death of motor neurons. This light-stimulated strategy could attenuate and even improve patients’ breathing function as a consequence of motor neuron loss and proper innervations of the respiratory system.​