A team of Italian and British researchers has discovered a natural 'first aid' mechanism which repairs minor muscle damage but which could be readapted to treat major muscle injuries.
The mechanism was discovered in a study directed by Nadia Rosenthal, the head of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo outside Rome, in collaboration with Harefield Heart of Imperial College of London.
According to the Journal of Cell Biology, the mechanism is a calcineurin protein, CnA-betal, which is found in muscle stem cells and performs ''normal maintenance'' on muscle tissue.
Rosenthal's research on mice has shown that the activity of the protein can be enhanced and stimulated to repair more serious muscle damage.
''These results make CnA-betal a promising candidate for new therapy approaches to treat muscle degeneration,'' she said.
