Have managed to accelerate the recovery of broken bones

2010/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika
• Mikrobiologia
• Nekazaritza

A team of researchers from Stanford School of Medicine has managed to reduce by a third the time it takes to complete broken bones in mouse experiments. The "accelerator" used has been the family of Wnt proteins that emit signals between cells. The experiments consisted of introducing a protein from this family to mice in the leg, after a millimetre hole in the tibia, and comparing the time it took to complete it with others who were not treated.

At 72 hours after treatment began, mice received Wnt proteins that produced three and a half times more bone than those who received nothing. Also, the mice that received the treatment took four weeks to complete the bone and those who did not receive it two more.

Scientists working on bone formation had already focused on Wnt proteins for a long time, but until 2008 they did not get a therapeutic form, as they do not dissolve in water. However, in 2008 they were included within liposomes, which paved the way for working with this protein.