Transformative movements: medicine from tears and platinum from scrap
Hundreds of asteroids can hit the Earth, but only if Jupiter changes their trajectory. In Russia, they are creating a drug for the regeneration of cartilage of other tissues based on protein from lacrimal fluid and milk. And a startup from the United States has announced the development of a new lunar landing platform capable of delivering up to three tons of cargo at a time to the lunar surface. These and other interesting scientific news for the week are in the Izvestia collection.
An oncopreparation with double activity
Scientists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry. Academicians M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and colleagues have developed a drug that simultaneously binds to tumor cell proteins and receptors on the surface of vessels feeding neoplasms.
The combined molecule is a modified protein based on the natural cytokine TRAIL. The authors additionally added peptides capable of binding to proteins present on the surface of both malignant cells and tumor vessels.
In experiments on mice, the compound under study suppressed tumor growth by about 70%, and also reduced the number of blood vessels around them by 40%. The resulting drug, which differs from analogues in its dual activity, will potentially find application in clinical oncological practice.
— The results indicate that in the future, the developed protein may become an effective drug for the treatment of tumors with a dense vascular network. Compared with other compounds, our drug had a complex effect on several different targets of malignant cells and blood vessels, thereby increasing the effectiveness of treatment. In the future, we plan to move to the preclinical testing stage," Anna Yagolovich, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Assistant Professor at the Department of Bioengineering at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Faculty of Biology, senior researcher at the Laboratory of Protein Engineering at the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.
Jupiter can send hundreds of asteroids to Earth.
Scientists from Tomsk State University (TSU) and the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences have studied the influence of Jupiter on the trajectories of asteroids whose orbits are approaching the Earth.
As the researchers explained, asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the Sun. Most of them are located in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. Among them, there is a special group whose orbits lie closer than 1.3 AU (about 200 million km) from the trajectory of our planet. They are called "near-Earth asteroids." Currently, more than 30 thousand objects of this class are open.
— Of these, we chose those whose path also passes near the orbit of Jupiter. This is the largest planet in the Solar system, which can radically change the direction of movement of small celestial bodies. For example, a giant planet can change the inclination of an asteroid's orbit by several degrees. And this can lead to the fact that an object that did not pose a threat to the Earth may move into an orbit that may turn out to be dangerous," said Tatiana Galushina, professor at the Department of Astronomy and Space Geodesy at the TSU Faculty of Physics.
Experts have identified 342 asteroids that could pose a potential threat to Earth in the next 100 years.
Protein from tears heals tissues without scarring
Researchers at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Sechenov University have found that lactoferrin, a natural protein found in milk and tear fluid, is able to accelerate organotypic regeneration, that is, high—quality, scar-free tissue repair, as close as possible to its original structure. So far, we are talking about ear cartilage, but potentially with the help of lactoferrin it is possible to achieve the restoration of other types of tissues, scientists told Izvestia.
In search of a solution, the researchers used the elastic cartilage of a rabbit's auricle as a model. This type of tissue is a rare example in mammals where, under certain conditions, complete, high—quality scar-free recovery is possible. The team continued previous work to establish the necessary conditions for regeneration by conducting exploratory research with a range of drugs and factors with known effects on tissue healing.
When locally injected into the area of damage to the cartilage of the auricle, lactoferrin not only accelerated healing, but directed the process towards organotypic regeneration. By day 60, areas with a high density of elastic fibers were already forming in the experimental group. By day 90, the defect was replaced by full-fledged cartilage tissue, structurally indistinguishable from healthy tissue.
— This is an important step: we have found out that it is possible to "reconfigure" the healing process from scarring to regeneration, — explained Alexey Fayzullin, head of the laboratory of digital microscopic analysis.
The United States has announced the development of a new system for delivering cargo to the moon.
An American startup has announced the development of a new lunar landing platform capable of delivering up to three tons of cargo at a time to the lunar surface. According to experts, there are currently no reliable means of delivering goods weighing from 0.5 to 13 tons to the moon on the market. Therefore, the new project is of great interest.
According to the proposed concept, the system will be launched into a low Earth reference orbit using a standard launch vehicle. Then the upper stage, designed to turn on the engines multiple times in space, will take on the role of a tugboat and deliver a bundle with the lander to lunar orbit in about a week. Once in place, the lunar vehicle will detach and make an independent landing.
The developers of this system believe that in this way it will be possible to deliver up to six tons of payload to the lunar surface annually. Commercial missions are planned to start as early as 2028. This can play a key role in creating a sustainable lunar infrastructure under the Artemis program, ensuring the delivery of residential modules, power supply systems, lunar rovers and communications equipment to the Moon.
Platinum from processed products
Krasnoyarsk scientists have found a solution to one of the most difficult problems of metallurgy: how to extract ultra-resistant rare platinum metals from metallurgical processing products. Chemists have developed an effective way to obtain strategically important rhodium and iridium from industrial waste. The new technology safely replaces toxic multi-stage processes and opens up new possibilities for refining platinum metals.
Instead of multi-stage processes using toxic chlorine or nitric acid, it was proposed to use autoclave dissolution in hydrochloric acid under high oxygen pressure. This technology makes it possible to efficiently extract rhodium and iridium from various types of raw materials: precious metal concentrates, spent automotive catalysts, and electronic scrap.
— Rhodium and iridium are strategically important but extremely rare metals. The developed technology is extremely important for industry, as it solves several critical tasks at once: it reduces the loss of precious metals, eliminates the need for the disposal of harmful gases and allows you to involve valuable secondary resources in economic turnover, reducing dependence on the extraction of new raw materials," said the head of the work, a leading researcher at the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the FITC KSC SB RAS, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Oleg Belousov.
Instead of relying solely on mining from the depths, the industry gets a safe tool for a closed cycle, reducing the loss of valuable resources, which is especially important against the background of growing demand for rare metals of the platinum group around the world, he noted.
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