FIG4 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: In fact, many of the genetic mutations associated with ALS include mutations in genes involved in autophagy (C9ORF72, FIG4, OPTN and TBK1), or proteasomal degradation (UBQLN2), or both (SQSTM and VCP) [4,5], and the upregulation of autophagy using the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin is being used as a therapeutic intervention for ALS [46].