Extensive in knowledge: skin eggs and invulnerable mice
Russian scientists have experimentally found out that, unlike all other mammals, needle mice are not susceptible to lung fibrosis. The researchers intend to understand the reasons for this amazing property in order to create a cure for an incurable disease. A group of Canadian specialists used kirigami, a paper—cutting technique— to create economical and reliable parachutes. And in the USA, for the first time in the world, they obtained an egg cell from human skin cells capable of developing into an embryo. This could potentially solve the problem of infertility. Read more about the most important scientific events of the week in the Izvestia article.
The new approach will allow treating the kidneys and the heart at the same time
Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University have discovered a new approach to the treatment of heart diseases caused by kidney diseases. This opens the way to the creation of new drugs and therapeutic approaches that will allow treating various pathologies in a complex.
Experts have studied what changes occur in the heart of male mice with type four renocardial syndrome. This is a disease in which chronic kidney disease, which often occurs when there is a violation of fat metabolism in the body, type 2 diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and other diseases, can lead to heart failure. Chronic kidney disease, in turn, can develop due to obstructive nephropathy, a violation of the flow of urine that occurs when stones stand in the ureter.
As scientists told Izvestia, in response to such damage in the heart muscle (myocardium), two processes can be triggered: chronic inflammation and fibrosis (replacement of the myocardium with connective tissue) or repair with the participation of stem cells, one of the markers of which is the protein nestin.
— In the future, we plan to continue studying the phenotype of nestin-positive cells in different types of organs and tissues. We would like to develop a technique for isolating this type of cell in order to use them in the future for the treatment of acute ischemic injuries in various experimental models," the project leader, a researcher at the Laboratory of Mitochondrial Structure and Function at the A.N. Belozersky Research Institute of Physico—Chemical Biology at Lomonosov Moscow State University, told Izvestia. Polina Abramicheva.
In the future, scientists intend to use them for the treatment of acute ischemic injuries in various experimental models, the specialist added.
Russian 3D fabric will make UAVS more impact-resistant
In Russia, with the support of the NTI Foundation (National Technology Initiative), they plan to launch the country's first mass production of a sheet polymer composite material based on 3D fabric. This material is intended for the hulls of drones and other aviation equipment. It is produced using a special pultrusion technology, a continuous technological process that makes it possible to produce composite products quickly and in large volumes.
The main difference between the new product is the use of three—dimensional carbon fiber fabric. This structure is much stronger than the usual layered materials: it makes the material more resistant to impact and prevents its stratification during loading and processing, which was previously a serious problem. The development uses a Russian—made three-dimensional preform, a single-layer reinforced fabric. Previously, such composites were manufactured using a layer-by-layer technology, also known as "contact molding."
As noted in the press service of the Carbontex development company, their goal is not only to create a material with improved strength characteristics, but also to organize its high-speed and cost-effective production.
"The abandonment of labor—intensive manual layering will significantly reduce the cost and bring affordable high—quality carbon fiber of domestic production to the market," the press service added.
The developers note that the transition to an automated process will significantly reduce the cost and speed up production.
Invulnerable mice will help to find a remedy for lung fibrosis
Experts from Lomonosov Moscow State University have experimentally revealed that needle-nosed mice are practically immune to the onset of pulmonary fibrosis. In other mammals, with the development of this pathology, healthy lung tissue is replaced by connective tissue, which disrupts its normal functioning. The study showed that even high doses of the toxic drug bleomycin, which usually leads to scarring in other mouse species in the lungs, only slightly damage the respiratory system of needle rodents. This property of animals can be used to create drugs against fibrosis, which remains incurable for the time being.
"The results show that needle mice are characterized not only by resistance to fibrosis, but also by a unique response to lung damage, which ensures tissue repair. This makes rodents a convenient model for studying the mechanisms by which it will be possible to potentially "force" the tissues of the human body to regenerate rather than form scars. In the future, we plan to study in detail the dynamics of this unusual response of needle mice to lung damage and identify cellular and molecular targets through which it will be possible to control the development of fibrosis," said Anastasia Efimenko, project leader, head of the Tissue Repair and Regeneration Laboratory at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Moscow State University Medical Research and Educational Institute.
During the experiment, the authors modeled lung fibrosis in mice by injecting different concentrations of bleomycin into their trachea, which is used to treat various types of cancer. Its side effect can lead to pulmonary fibrosis.
The art of paper carving helped create reliable parachutes.
Canadian researchers have used the Japanese kirigami technique, which is used to cut and fold various shapes out of paper to create parachutes with programmed properties. Currently, expensive technology is used to produce this device, which limits its mass use, for example, for the delivery of humanitarian aid. The researchers applied kirigami principles to cutouts on the parachute fabric, which reduced its cost and gave high accuracy of landing at a given point.
"Closed-loop laser cutting based on the kirigami principle creates porosity and flexibility, which makes it easier to manufacture a parachute. Using wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations using a special air flow reconfiguration model, we are developing a new parachute design technique inspired by Kirigami," the authors of the study write.
New parachutes fall close to the desired target regardless of the conditions during deployment. This distinguishes them from their existing counterparts.
Scientists have turned human skin cells into an egg
American scientists have used cloning technology combined with fertilization and chemical exposure to produce eggs from human skin cells. Thus, for the first time, they managed to obtain female germ cells capable of giving rise to human embryos. The technology will make it possible to restore the ability to procreate to patients who have had it disrupted for various reasons, for example, after cancer therapy.
"The fertilized human oocytes (female germ cells) went through normal embryonic divisions, eventually developing into embryos with integrated somatic and sperm chromosomes," the study authors wrote in their scientific paper.
Despite the promising results, the scientists emphasize that at this stage only laboratory experiments were conducted and further research is needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the technique.
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