ATXN2 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Since the data show ATXN2L to be more important than ATXN2 for cell growth, it will be highly interesting to study its role in neurodegenerative disorders due to RNA surveillance problems, such as ALS, where the depletion of mammalian ATXN2 and of the yeast/fly ortholog also of ATXN2L was already shown to be neuroprotective.