X-Message-Number: 15584 Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 11:19:04 -0500 From: James Swayze <> Subject: Mighy mice fight aging Mighty Mice to Fight Aging, Muscular Dystrophy Updated: Wed, Feb 07 01:12 PM EST By Julia Hancock ROME (Reuters) - Italian scientists said on Wednesday they may have found a way to help slow down the aging process through experiments with genetically modified mice and are trying to apply their discoveries to fight muscular dystrophy. Researchers at Rome's La Sapienza University, working with scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States, have created genetically modified super-muscle mice which are relatively immune to the muscle wasting that occurs with aging. Tests in Rome have shown that a 22-month-old super-muscle laboratory mouse, comparable in age to an 80-year-old human, has the same type of muscle as a normal six-month-old mouse, equivalent in age to a 40-year-old human. The mice were genetically engineered to produce a growth-promoting protein called muscle insulinlike growth factor 1 (mIgf1) only in their voluntary muscles -- those which control conscious movement. "The originality of our research was to express the growth factor in a selective way so it only affects voluntary muscles, thereby avoiding side effects in the heart, kidney or other tissues," La Sapienza's Antonio Musaro told Reuters. FOCUS NOW ON MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY The mIgf1 protein, normally found in muscles of healthy young people, holds the properties which prevent muscle decay caused by aging and certain muscle diseases, including some forms of muscular dystrophy. Musaro said the project was now concentrating on seeing how their research could help fight the muscle wasting disease of muscular dystrophy. "The goal is to use these models to develop a therapy that can be used both for old people, to reduce muscle wasting, and for sick people with illnesses like muscular dystrophy," he added. Musaro said the project had also developed a therapeutic version of mIgf1 which can be directly injected into the aged muscles of a normal lab mouse. The effect is the same as with the general variety of the protein, but it is limited to the specific muscle into which the virus is injected, rather than permeating all voluntary muscles. "The experimental phase of this therapy we hope will last five years before we can start (human) trials," Musaro said. The earliest the therapy can be commercially available is in ten years time, he added. (Ten years!!?? Why so long? Personally I don't see why 2 years wouldn't be adequate. Can someone enlighten me please?) http://home-news.excite.com/news/r/010207/13/science-health-age-dc James -- Some of our views are spacious some are merely space--RUSH Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15584