Scoperta una molecola in grado di attivare la rigenerazione delle cellule muscolari fino all'età geriatrica. Lo studio, frutto della collaborazione tra la Sapienza e laboratori europei e statunitensi, apre la strada a nuove possibilità terapeutiche anche per i soggetti affetti da patologie neuromuscolari. La ricerca è pubblicata sulla rivista Nature Cell Biology

Con l’avanzare dell’età i muscoli tendono a perdere parte della massa, e dunque della forza, oltre che la capacità di ripararsi e rigenerarsi in seguito a traumi o danni. Aumenta così nelle persone più anziane il rischio della perdita di autonomia e di una maggiore fragilità.

Un nuovo studio internazionale, coordinato dall’Università Pompeu Fabra di Barcellona con la partecipazione di numerosi laboratori, tra cui quello del gruppo di Antonio Musarò della Sapienza Università di Roma, e pubblicato sulla rivista Nature Cell Biology, ha permesso di individuare il potenziale meccanismo che permetterebbe di mantenere giovani le cellule staminali dei muscoli nei soggetti anziani. Si tratta di un fattore di trascrizione, FoxO, che regola l’espressione genica, quella serie di eventi che traducono le informazioni contenute in un gene e che portano alla formazione di una proteina.

The new SARS-CoV-2 variant 20A.EU1 has spread widely across Europe. Visualization of sequence numbers (diameter of circles), color-coded by country. Bottom right: The “family tree” of sequences of the new variant (color-coded by country) indicates that 20A.EU1 traveled between countries multiple times. (Visualization: Nextstrain, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap) 

Researchers from Basel and Spain have identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant that has spread widely across Europe in recent months, according to an un-peer-reviewed preprint released this week. While there is no evidence of this variant being more dangerous, its spread may give insights into the efficacy of travel policies adopted by European countries during the summer.

In Europe alone, hundreds of different variants of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are currently circulating, distinguished by mutations in their genomes. However, only very few of these variants have spread as successfully and become as prevalent as the newly identified variant, named 20A.EU1.

The researchers at the University of Basel, ETH Zürich in Basel and the SeqCOVID-Spain consortium analyzed and compared virus genome sequences collected from Covid-19 patients all across Europe to trace the evolution and spread of the pathogen (see box). Their analysis suggests that the variant originated in Spain during the summer. The earliest evidence of the new variant is linked to a super-spreading event among agricultural workers in the north-east of Spain. The variant moved into the local population, expanding quickly across the country, and now accounts for almost 80% of the sequences from Spain.

The TECASOS group of the UJI and the GIQUIMA group of the UPV have analysed the reuse of three types of recycled materials for producing conglomerates and moving towards a low-carbon economy.

A study carried out by researchers from the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has shown that recycled materials of ceramic origin can replace up to 25% of Portland cement and, in this way, increase the sustainability thresholds of the construction sector while moving towards a low-carbon economy. The results of this work have been published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.

«We have studied several parameters, such as the resistance, microstructure, structure and the sustainability of the materials in reuse thresholds of 0 to 50%, for example, and we have concluded that the use of these recycled materials can reach 25% in cement-based conglomerates, thus decreasing environmental impact», says UJI lecturer and researcher Lucía Reig.

More information:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652620337586

https://ruvid.org/ri-world/study-shows-that-ceramic-waste-can-replace-25-of-portland-cement-and-increase-the-sustainability-of-construction-works/