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Recerca La sarcopènia és una malaltia degenerativa caracteritzada per una disminució patològica de la força muscular que afecta especialment les persones de més edat. Investigadors de la Universitat de Barcelona han desenvolupat una nova eina per avaluar la presència i la gravetat d'aquesta insuficiència muscular.

A research team from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Valencia, in collaboration with Sarel Fleishman's group, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, has developed a computer-assisted approach to modulate intramembrane interactions between proteins.

Recerca Space travel has always tested the human body by the effects of the new conditions of altered gravity on biological systems. It has long been known that continuous exposure to microgravity conditions human physiology and causes effects that compromise muscular, sensory, endocrine and cardiovascular functions.

Recerca Bones remain healthy thanks to the fact that they are in continuous remodelling, a process that is given by the balance between the activity of osteoblasts —cells that create bone tissue— and the osteoclasts, which reabsorb it. An imbalance between these two can disrupt bone homeostasis and lead to diseases such as osteopenia, i.e. a loss of bone mass.

Researchers Rubén Artero and Arturo López, from the University Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED) of the University of Valencia (UV), and from the INCLIVA Translational Genomics Research Group, have just published a paper on the treatments in Drug Discovery Today about the rare disease myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).

Recerca Experts from the University of Barcelona, the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute of Aragon (INMA) —a joint institute of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza— have developed a new method to detect RNA viruses based on the triplex-forming probe technology.

Research by the University of Valencia (UV), the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (IBV-CSIC), INCLIVA and CIBERER, among other entities, has made it possible to find differences in the production of microRNA (small molecules that regulate gene expression) in Brain tissue from mouse models of Lafora disease, a type of neurodegenerative epilepsy with very rapid deterioration, manifesting in adolescence and fatal outcome.

Recerca The quail could be the unknown reservoir of the Toscana virus (TOSV) and the Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), mosquito-borne pathogens that can infect domestic animals and also cause disease in humans. This conclusion is drawn from a study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology , and which is led by Jordi Serra-Cobo, professor at the Faculty of Biolog y and the Biodiversity Research Institute ( IRBio ) of the University of Barcelona, and Remi Charrel, from the Aix-Marseille University (France).

Recerca A team of experts from the University of Barcelona, the University of Zaragoza and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona found a mechanism of recruitment for tumour-associated cells (cancer-associated fibroblasts or CAFs) which are essential to lung adenocarcinoma, the most frequent type of cancer. This finding is very relevant since the cancer-associated cells contribute to all the phases of tumour development, including metastasis.

Recerca The size of two brain structures is associated with the response to cognitive-behavioural psychological therapy in children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a study led by teams from the University of Barcelona, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Bellvitge University Hospital and the Mental Health Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERSAM).

A study proves psychotherapists who practice mindfulness are more effective with their patients A study in which researchers from the University of Valencia, the Rey Juan Carlos University and the Carlos III Health Institute participate confirms that applying mindfulness techniques - meditation for awareness as a way of accepting the present - in psychotherapy professionals has a positive effect on their patients.

Jorge Ramón, a researcher at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Valencia, has explored, through the satirical press of the late nineteenth century, how the social

Recerca Mitochondria —the energy powerhouses of cells— play an essential role in cell physiology. The joining of two or more mitochondria and the division of a mitochondrion into two units are common processes. They are known as mitochondrial dynamics and are necessary for the proper functioning of these structures and of the cell itself.

A team of researchers from the University of Barcelona, the UB Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has created the first highly mature neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using a synthetic material. This finding opens up new opportunities for medical research and potential therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries.

An international study led by Spanish scientists, with the participation of the researchers of UPF Marc Güell and Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, has deciphered the origin of the CRIPSR gene-editing tool and has confirmed its original activity. An international research group, with the participation of UPF, has for the first time reconstructed ancestors dating back 2.6 billion years of the well-known CRISPR-Cas system, and studied their evolution over time.

Studies on diseases that affect the human brain are usually based on animal models which cannot reproduce the complexity of human neuropathies. Therefore, these methodologies often fail when applied in a clinical environment with patients. In this context, the findings of the cellular reprogramming techniques to generate cultures of human neurons using skin cells have revolutionised the study and development of innovative therapies in neurosciences.

Senescent cells, which emerge after tissue injury, create an aged-like inflamed microenvironment that is negative for stem cell function and tissue repair. The finding provides a basis for mitigating the loss of muscle regenerative capacity in elderly people and for improving muscle repair in young healthy people.

Metformin, the most prescribed drug for treating diabetes mellitus, known as type 2 diabetes, requires the presence of the growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) —a protein whose expression increases in response to cellular stress— to present its antidiabetic effects.

A research conducted by the Parasites and Health group of the University of Valencia has found for the first time in continental Europe the nematode worm) Angiostrongylus cantonensis , a zoonotic (capable of being transmitted to humans) parasite present in the pulmonary arteries of rats and that it is the most common causative agent in humans of eosinophilic meningitis (EM).

A group of researchers from the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC, UV-CSIC) has collaborated in the publication of the first international manual of supportive therapies for cancer patients.