Russian Scientists Propose Novel Approach to Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Based on Chemokine Receptor Blockade
Scientists from the State Research Center IBCh RAS, together with leading physicians from the N.N. Burdenko Center for Neurosurgery, have discovered that the blockade of inflammation in the spinal cord, which is forced by the immune system, during the acute period of traumatic injury, has evident clinical benefits in terms of subsequent recovery. The results of cytokine profiling and magnetic resonance imaging/tractography indicate a significant improvement in the rate of neural conduction regeneration when immunoglobulin and low-molecular-weight chemokine receptor blockers are administered to injured animals. It is worth noting that some of these drugs are already actively used for the treatment of other diseases, which makes it possible to quickly translate them into clinical practice. The study results are published in the prestigious scientific journal Advanced Science. Learn more
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- How can plant defence responses to pathogen and pest attacks be observed?
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III.18 Scientists from the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed autoluminescent reporters for non-invasive imaging of plant defence responses. Using consumer-grade cameras, they visualized the spatiotemporal activity of the phytohormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana during normal development as well as in response to pest and pathogen attacks. The study was published in Nature Communications.
- An “Ancient” Frog Gene Accelerates Skin Wound Healing in Mice
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II.19 Researchers from the Department of Genomics and Postgenomic Technologies at the State Research Center Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Regenerative Medicine at Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University have shown that the ag1 gene, an important regulator of regeneration in amphibians that was lost in all amniotes, including reptiles, birds, and mammals, during evolution, can accelerate skin wound healing when introduced into the mouse genome. Activation of this gene in transgenic mice was found to trigger molecular programs associated with regeneration-biased and scar- reduced tissue repair. These findings open new perspectives for fundamental research in tissue regeneration and repair. The results are published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
- Cardioviruses bind glycyl-tRNA synthetase for mRNA translation
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II.2 Viruses often use non-standard mechanisms to translate their mRNAs, which makes it possible to suppress the translation of cellular mRNAs and capture the entire cellular translation apparatus for the synthesis of viral proteins. In a paper published in Nucleic Acids Research, the authors from IBCh and colleagues from the Justus Liebig University (Germany) found that picornaviruses from the genus of cardioviruses (for example, encephalomyocarditis virus, EMCV) have two structures similar to glycyl tRNA in the 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions of mRNA. It has been shown that these elements bind glycyl tRNA synthetase (GARS), and this is necessary for efficient translation of viral mRNA. The interaction of the GARS dimer with 5’ and 3'HTO is likely to cause mRNA cyclization.