PADUA – L’Elixir of long life comes thanks to scientific research led byUniversity of Padua, at the end of almost a decade of studies. They called him “Mytho“: this is the name chosen for a new “anti-aging” gene, capable of helping people age healthily and improve the quality of life.
The study, published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Investigation, is the result of international research lasting nine years, in which the University of Padua played a pivotal role: the investigation was coordinated by Marco Sandri, professor of the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Padua, winner of the 2023 «Alfredo Margreth» prize for muscle biology and physiopathology. The University of Bologna, the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine of Pozzuoli and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità of Rome contributed to it.
The experiment
Experiments carried out on the Caenorhabditis Elegans worm, an animal model widely used in genetics laboratories around the world, indicate that by turning off this gene, cells age prematurely and lifespan is shortened; by activating it, however, you can maintain a good state of health for longer. «It all started with computer research to identify potential yet unknown genes in the human genome», says Anais Franco Romero, first author together with Valeria Morbidoni of the study coordinated by Sandri. «Among the various candidates – says the researcher – the team focused on a gene that stood out for being extremely conserved among the different animal species, from humans to worms, called Mytho».
How does it work
The researchers also managed to understand the molecular mechanisms governed by this gene: they discovered that it regulates the mechanism of autophagy, which allows the removal of proteins and other damaged components within cells.
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