The finding paves the way for the identification of new therapeutic targets for many diseases.
Without these proteins, skin stem cells are lost.
The study headed by Salvador Aznar Benitah at IRB Barcelona has been published today in Cell Stem Cell.
The study, led by IRB Barcelona and published in Nature Communications will help research into regenerative medicine and potentially also help understand neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
IRB Barcelona researchers discover that the loss of the protein Mitofusin 2 in the muscles of young mice speeds up aging and causes early sarcopenia, thus leading to the muscle quality of aged mice.
Sarcopenia, which is muscle wastage and the accompanied loss of strength, is one of the most weakening conditions of old age and it has no treatment.
The scientists propose that stimulating Mitofusin 2 activity would provide a good strategy through which to ameliorate sarcopenia.
Kennedy’s disease leads to progressive muscle wastage. It is a condition that affects only men and it appears between 40 and 50 years of age. There is no specific treatment available.
In individuals with this disease, muscle cells and motor neurons die over the years because they accumulate a protein that is mutated.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona discover that this protein has a self-protective mechanism through which the deleterious effects of the mutation are delayed.
A study performed at IRB Barcelona offers an explanation as to why the genetic code, the dictionary used by organisms to translate genes into protein, stopped growing 3,000 million years ago.
The reason is attributed to the structure of transfer RNAs—the key molecules in the translation of genes into proteins.
The genetic code is limited to 20 amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—the maximum number that prevents systematic mutations, which are fatal for life.
The discovery could have applications in synthetic biology.
In an article published in Nature Communications, scientists at IRB Barcelona reveal that breast cancer cells require fatty acids from the extracellular environment in order to continue proliferating.
Scientists at IRB Barcelona discover a crucial protein for meiosis—the cell division process that gives rise to sex cells.
Without the RingoA protein, both male and female mice are sterile.
Published in Nature Communications, the results could pave the way for the development of male contraceptives.
Scientists at IRB Barcelona and CSIC reveal that the combination of two molecular signals determines which cells that have already differentiated can regain their stem cell properties.
Their studies on fruit flies allow for advancements in the field of regenerative medicine and a better understanding of processes involved in cancer.
IRB Barcelona identifies GEMC1 as a master gene for the generation of multiciliated cells—cells with fine filaments that move fluids and substances—which are found exclusively in the brain, respiratory tract, and reproductive system.
Defects in multiciliated cells lead to ciliopathies—rare and complex diseases that are poorly understood and for which not all causative genes have been identified.
