During a Meeting that brought together more than forty researchers
NEMESIS scientists presented research advances in the areas of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
- Of particular interest were recent findings related to a new drug for the treatment of insulin resistance and the importance of exercise in treatment of many chronic pathologies.
- Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of deaths in developing and emerging countries like Chile.
NEMESIS scientists reported on research advances in the areas of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
-Some Findings relate to new drugs for insulin resistance and the beneficial role of exercise in the management of diseases.
Noncommunicable-diseases are the leading cause of death in developed and emerging countries such as Chile. Cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are chronic diseases that together are responsible for over 50% of all deaths in Chile. In the perspective of showing the latest advances in these areas, over forty NEMESIS Ring Chilean scientists convened at a workshop in the Hosteria Rancho El Indigo, El Manzano (road to San José del Maipo).
The activity was initiated by Dr. Andrew Quest, director of NEMESIS, and subsequently he and the principal investigators Drs. Sergio Lavandero and Enrique Jaimovich, along with members of their laboratories, including academics from the University of Chile and graduate students, presented their latest advances On this occasion, studies conducted at the center, which has been operational for the last two years, were discussed. These seek to improve the understanding, diagnosis and clinical management of particularly noncommunicable diseases, which are defined as not being contagious. Currently, these are highly prevalent worldwide, and constitute the leading causes of death in developed and emerging countries, including Chile.
Advances for 2015
Particularly notable were recent advances in the area of insulin resistance and diabetes. Dr. Enrique Jaimovich, director of the Laboratory of Physiology Muscular, explained that beyond those in 2014, 2015 should yield significant advances in understanding the mechanisms by which muscles adapt to exercise and certain stimuli; aging, diabetes and insulin resistance. Efforts of the Jaimovich lab will continue to emphasize studies on the role of physical exercise and its multisystemic benefits in the indicated diseases and problems of aging.
“Next year our efforts will concentrate particularly on sarcopenia, a disease characterized by loss of muscle mass that mainly affects older adults. To do so, we have developed models to study aging in mice. We also propose to develop possible therapies against muscle wasting, which would offer great benefits to patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy”, he said.
Another research topic is the regulation of muscle metabolism and how a better understanding of such mechanisms may help prevent problems, such as insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity. One example are recent findings by Dr. Paola Llanos, recently accepted for publication in an international journal. These studies identify a compound that should be useful for the treatment of insulin resistance. This is particularly noteworthy because this drug has already been approved for the treatment of other pathologies.
Studies NEMESIS
In the course of the day, many other research advances obtained in the NEMESIS laboratories were presented and discussed. These related to the areas of cardiac hypertrophy and mitochondrial dynamics, control of autophagy, the role of caveolin in regulating mitochondrial communication and reticular stress, tumor suppression, nanoparticles, etc. just to highlight a few topics.
Presentations were given by: Christian Pennanen, Andrea Rodriguez, Roberto Bravo, Manuel Arias, Denisse Valladares, Carlos Henriquez, Yenniffer Avalos, Victor Diaz and Raul Lagos. (By Inés Llambías Communications Agency – translated by Carolina Molina & Andrew Quest).
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