DCTN1 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: However, DCTN1-mRNA has been observed to be reduced in the motor cortex and spinal cord of sALS patients (Jiang et al., 2007; Ikenaka et al., 2013; Kuźma-Kozakiewicz et al., 2013), raising the question of whether DCTN1 variants may contribute to disease onset through either a loss or gain of function in ALS.