Is there a way to live long, age well and healthily? The answer could come from one research by a group of Italian scholars who discovered the existence of a gene called Mytho which helps you age healthily by improving your quality of life.
Mytho, the gene for healthy aging
—
The study was published in Journal of Clinical Investigation and was created by a group of international researchers led by a Italian team of the University of Padua. The professor is responsible for the research Marco Sandri, professor of the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Padua and principal investigator of the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (Vimm), in collaboration with Eva Trevisson, geneticist of the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at the University of Padua. The University of Bologna, the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine of Pozzuoli and the ISS (Istituto Superiore di Sanità) also participated in the research.
an unknown gene
—
The researchers identified a previously unknown gene and present almost identically in different species from worms to humans. Research has shown that by turning off this gene, cells age faster, on the contrary, when it is activated it helps to keep the analyzed subject in a good state of health. According to the study, Mytho regulates the biological process called auophagy which allows the removal of damaged proteins and organelles, helping to improve cellular homeostasis.
worm research
—
The studio was created by one computer research for identification in the human genome Of potential unknown genes and capable of being important for the quality of proteins and organelles, as he explained Anais Franco Romeroco-lead author of the study with Valeria Morbidoni: “Among the different candidates, the team focused on a gene that stood out for being extremely conserved among different animal species, from humans to worms, called Mytho.” The scholars, carrying out some genetic manipulation experiments, discovered that inhibiting Mytho created cellular senescence shortening the life of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans (among the most used animal models in the laboratory). Once activated, quality of life improves and aging proceeds with good health, later realizing that it played a role not only in the worm but also in some mammalian cells and in muscle tissue biopsies of elderly individuals.
Leave with a group of sportsmen like you, discover Gazzetta Adventure and Tribala trips dedicated to sport and fun around the world
gene waiting to be discovered
—
The Professor Sandri highlighted how studies are helping to better understand the human genome but “the function of most of our genetic code is still unknown. An example are the genes that encode proteins, of which more than 5 thousand out of a total of 20 thousand are completely unknown. This is why in recent years we have used resources and energy to characterize this unknown world of our DNA.” According to researchers this gene could be also involved in some genetic diseases the causes of which are unknown and will therefore become an object of study and in-depth analysis.
