A disease dynamics atlas forecasts patient states and maps molecular programs in ALS

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Authors: Zizhang Li, Chong Gao, Jiaming Kong, Yuting Fu, Shan Wen, Guangpeng Li, Ye Cao, Yunlin Fu, Hao Zhang, Shikai Jia, Xiaojing Liu, Jiangli Yang
+4 more Lei Cai, Feng Yan, Xiaodong Liu, Luyi Tian
Cited by: 0
References: 72

Abstract

Abstract ALS progression is multidimensional, yet fragmented records and scalar outcomes obscure how patients move through disease states and how those states relate to molecular variation. MEDSTREM converts patient-held medical-record images into standardised longitudinal data, enabling bottom-up cohort construction. Using MEDSTREM-structured records from more than 8,000 AskHelpU participants together with PRO-ACT and Answer ALS, we developed DynaALS, the ALS Disease Dynamics Atlas. DynaALS represents ALS as a dynamic patient-state manifold that captures distinct directions of deterioration and patient movement between them over time. DynaALS retrieved population-referenced future states and decoded them into multidimensional clinical profiles without requiring patient-specific longitudinal histories. Motor-neuron RNA and chromatin profiles linked DynaALS states to developmental and regulatory programs, while neuromuscular-organoid single-cell multi-omics converged on a neural-developmental Netrin-DCC signalling axis across interacting cell types. By coupling MEDSTREM-enabled data construction to dynamic state modelling, DynaALS establishes a transferable patient-state engine for predictive and biologically interpretable disease models.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics Machine Learning in Healthcare

Publication details

Journal / source
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Publication date
3 February 2026
Document type
Preprint