The University of Trieste, with coordination of the Centro Cardiologico Monzino IRCCS, joined a new international project, aimed at developing a therapy capable of regenerating the heart of patients who have suffered from a myocardial infarction. Specifically, forming new tissue and new blood vessels to restore the heart muscle to full function is the goal of the RESCUE – Bridging the gap between cardiac regeneration and revascularization project.
With funding of €1.5 million – of which more than 600,000 are earmarked for Italy, through the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and the Ministry of Health – the project is promoted by the EU ERA4Health partnership, which supports collaboration between various European and international research bodies in priority areas in the health sector, fostering the development of therapeutic innovations.
Serena Zacchigna, professor of molecular biology at the Department of medical, surgical and health sciences (DSM) at UniTS and head of the cardiovascular biology laboratory at ICGEB (International Centre For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology), explained that the RESCUE project aims to “bridge this gap between cardiac regeneration and revascularisation: we want, in fact, to develop a new biological drug containing two active ingredients – and in particular two RNA molecules – that can regenerate the heart and simultaneously promote the vascularisation of the regenerated tissue”.
The National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid, the Dutch University of Utrecht, the Lokman Hekim University of Ankara, the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the PLN Foundation patient association, which is responsible for educating and raising awareness among patients and caregivers about the new RNA therapies, are also collaborating in the project.
