GENIO italiano Giuseppe Cotellessa

Scientists Reveal How General Anesthesia Works in the Brain /  Gli scienziati rivelano come l'anestesia generale funzioni nel cervello Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa /  Reported by Dr. Giuseppe Cotellessa Hailed as one of the most important medical advances, the discovery of general anesthetics – compounds which induce unconsciousness, prevent control of movement and block pain – helped transform dangerous and traumatic operations into safe and routine surgery. But despite their importance, scientists still don’t understand exactly how general anesthetics work. Now, in a study published in the  Journal of Neuroscience , researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Nagoya University have revealed how a commonly used general anesthetic called isoflurane weakens the transmission of electrical signals between neurons, at junctions called synapses. “Importantly, we found that isoflurane did not block the transmis

Up Close and Personal With SARS-CoV-2's Replication Machinery /  Da vicino e personale con il macchinario di replica di SARS-CoV-2 Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa / Reported by Dr. Giuseppe Cotellessa When a viral pathogen invades, it enters the host cells and must rapidly divide to survive. In order to divide, it is required to multiply its genetic material – long strands of RNA. The machinery responsible for performing this task is known as the viral polymerase.    Scientists are working to understand the structure and function of the viral polymerase; block the replication machinery, block the virus's ability to continue to infect the host. This is the premise behind antiviral drugs which bind to and inhibit viral polymerases. Structural biology can lend a hand here. Advances in techniques such as cryo -electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) are progressing the at a rapid pace, enabling scientists to accurately determine the 3D structures of proteins in a more

Coronavirus, il ruolo del testosterone: la scoperta italiana /  Coronavirus, the role of testosterone: the Italian discovery Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa / Reported by Dr. Giuseppe Cotellessa Carlo Foresta ha spiegato perché gli uomini si ammalano più delle donne e in forma più grave. I numeri parlano chiaro: la mortalità di coronavirus degli uomini è più che doppia rispetto a quella delle donne. A dirlo è uno studio condotto in Cina e pubblicato sulla rivista Frontiers of Public Health. A fare chiarezza sui motivi che rendono gli uomini più vulnerabili delle donne al  coronavirus  ci ha pensato  Carlo Foresta , docente di Endocrinologia all’Università di Padova. Secondo l’esperto, come riporta Ansa,  dipende dai cromosomi e dal testosterone . Sull’argomento si è tenuto oggi un seminario online seguito da quasi 700 utenti tra YouTube e Zoom. Secondo una teoria circolata in precedenza, in seguito a uno studio condotto negli Usa dal Montefiore Health System

Could an Existing HIV Drug Slow the Spread of COVID-19? /  Un farmaco HIV esistente potrebbe rallentare la diffusione di COVID-19? Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa / Reported by Dr. Giuseppe Cotellessa A team of scientists from Sinai Health, St. Michael’s Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is launching a clinical trial to understand whether an existing drug used for HIV treatment and prevention may work to prevent COVID-19 infection. The trial will examine whether post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a medication a person takes once they’ve been exposed to a virus to prevent infection, could halt or slow the spread of COVID-19 in groups of people who have been exposed to a confirmed case. The drug in question – Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir as PEP)– has long been used in this capacity to prevent HIV in those who have been exposed to the virus. “Early studies of the use of this medication as post-exposure prophylaxis therapy in other coronaviruses such as SARS

Innovative Spectroscopy Is Enhancing Protein Structure Determination /  La spettroscopia innovativa migliora la determinazione della struttura proteica Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa / Reported by Dr. Giuseppe Cotellessa Proteins are central to many disciplines within the life sciences. Understanding how they are formed, how they function, their role in health and disease and importantly the ways in which they respond to therapies and pharmaceutical intervention are all key aspects. Whilst proteins are essentially created from our genetic code, the picture is far more complicated, and they are not simply a 2D representation of a genetic template. Transcription and translation are part of the picture but beyond this there are modifications, secondary and tertiary structures, all of which are influenced by the environment surrounding the forming protein. The same is true of protein-based pharmaceuticals, changes in which could have significant impact on efficacy a