by Bar-Ilan University and Sheba Medical Center researchers have made a significant breakthrough in disease modeling by developing an innovative platform to study human muscle diseases in the C. elegans worm. This novel approach, led by Prof. Chaya Brodie from Bar-Ilan’s Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA) and Prof. Sivan Korenblit from Bar-Ilan’s Goodman Faculty, in collaboration with Dr. Amir Dori, a muscular dystrophy specialist from Sheba Medical Center, utilizes extracellular vesicles (EVs) from patients’ blood samples.
Unlike conventional methods that rely on genetic modifications in model organisms, this technique harnesses the power of EVs to study human diseases in worm models. Doctoral students Rewayd Shalash and Coral Cohen, along with Dr. Mor Levi-Ferber, carried out the research, which yielded impressive results. They harvested EVs from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and transferred them to C. elegans worms. The worms exhibited Artificial Muscle atrophy, mirroring human symptoms.
Extracellular vesicles are tiny membrane-enclosed cellular bubbles that carry a wealth of molecules representing cellular content. This feature enables the transfer of information across different species, making it possible to investigate human diseases in worm models. The versatility and scalability of this platform open the door to more personalized approaches to disease modeling, potentially leading to the development of targeted therapies.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
