The week ended on a cautiously optimistic note, with Hamas releasing its first hostages, including 10 Thai nationals

Researchers have revealed how muscle cells deteriorate with age, affecting their ability to regenerate and recover after an injury. The findings could help to shed light on why it takes people longer to recover from muscle damage as they age. A team at Nottingham Trent University analysed the genes inside muscle cells, and found the ‘development pathways’ – the different ways in which genes work together to regenerate muscle – become weakened in older cells. We know that healthy muscle regenerates after we’ve had an injury but ageing impairs that regeneration potential and recovery gets harder the older we get Dr Livia Santos, Nottingham Trent University Lead researcher Dr Livia Santos, an expert in musculoskeletal biology in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology, said: “This goes some way towards explaining why muscle injuries may take longer to recover as we get older.” She added: “We know that healthy muscle regenerates after we’ve had an injury but ageing impairs that regeneration potential and recovery gets harder the older we get. “What we’ve observed, in terms of what happens inside the cells, helps us to better understand why we don’t heal as well or as quickly in older age. “The pathways that control cell processes and development work differently in older cells and are downregulated, meaning regeneration is impacted the older we get. “If we can understand these pathways, however, we could potentially identify new therapies and interventions to mitigate the problem.” The researchers developed a new approach to examine muscle cells in the laboratory to enable them to observe the different mechanisms that drive muscle ageing. They studied muscle cells from donors, chemically injuring cells after they had been donated and isolated, then assessing how they heal and regenerate back to their pre-injury baseline levels. When they looked at cells from a 20-year-old and a 68-year-old donor, researchers found distinct differences in the development pathways of the younger and older cells. While younger muscle cells fully recovered from the injury, the team found that in older cells the genes expressed less of what they needed to, leaving the cells no longer able to perform in the way they should. According to the researchers, this contributes to reduced regeneration capacity leading to thinner, less robust ‘myotubes’ – a type of cell that can fully develop into a muscle fibre. Muscle regeneration is a complex and finely balanced biological process and is known to deteriorate with ageing, leading to the decline of musculoskeletal health and in some cases metabolic and genetic diseases. Our work enables us to examine muscle cell regeneration across the lifespan and this in turn could be key for future drug discovery for disease related to muscle ageing Researcher Janelle Tarum Janelle Tarum, another researcher on the study, said: “We’ve been able to develop a new approach to assess muscle regeneration which involves a state-of-the-art technique called RNA-sequencing. “There’s a very clear reduced regeneration capacity and weakened recovery of aged cells and we have been able to further understand the factors underlying this impairment. “Our work enables us to examine muscle cell regeneration across the lifespan and this in turn could be key for future drug discovery for disease related to muscle ageing.” The study, which also involved Manchester Metropolitan University and Liverpool John Moores University, is published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.

Two New Jersey utilities have joined forces on a clean energy project to pump water from a reservoir to 84,000 homes and businesses

The government's surprise announcement of the session had sparked criticism from opposition leaders.

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Disney wants to narrow the scope of its federal lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis to just a free speech claim that the Florida governor retaliated against the company because of its public opposition to a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the country’s counteroffensive to push back occupying Russian forces is set to “gain pace” as Kyiv expects more military aid from its allies, including the US. Mr Zelensky called on allies to provide fighter jets and more long-range missiles, with Washington planning to announce a new military package to Ukraine imminently. US national security adviser told the same security forum in Colorado that the results of the counteroffensive would only become clear once Kyiv fully commits its forces, saying this has not yet happened. Meanwhile, president Vladimir Putin accused Nato member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Russia‘s neighbour and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus “with all the means at our disposal”, Putin told a meeting of his Security Council in televised remarks. And a South African court has issued an arrest warrant for Mr Putin ahead of a Brics summit in Johannesburg next month. The Kremlin says Mr Putin will not be attending. Read More Ukraine ambassador to UK grilled by Kyiv after criticising Zelensky in Amazon row Two wounded and buildings damaged as Odesa pounded by third night of Russian air strikes Wagner mercenaries training Belarus special forces just miles from border with Nato-member Poland

Hillary Clinton has stepped over the White House threshold in yet another role

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A user said, 'Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good couch like that ?? I would have loved it in my house'