Scientists studying mysterious creatures called tardigrades may have discovered a new potential tool for slowing aging in humans.
Also called tardigrades, these nearly microscopic eight-legged animals can survive conditions that would kill most other life forms.
That’s because it contains proteins that form gels inside cells, slowing life processes and reducing cell damage, which could become an anti-aging panacea.
When an international team of researchers introduced tardigrade proteins into human cells in the lab, they found that the cells became sluggish and entered a kind of hibernation, just like cells in “indestructible” organisms. discovered.
When an international team of researchers introduced tardigrade proteins into human cells in the lab, they found that the cells became sluggish and entered a kind of hibernation – just like the cells of an “immortal” creature. It’s the same
Tardigrades are small, underwater, eight-legged, segmented microorganisms that live in moist habitats such as mosses and lichens.
The new findings provide clues as to how human cells and tissues can be put into suspended animation, similar to tardigrades under stress.
Only two-hundredths of an inch long, tardigrades can withstand the immense pressures of the deep ocean, extreme heat and cold, complete dehydration, prolonged starvation, and even the vacuum and radiation of outer space.
Their secret: suspended animation.
When tardigrades are stressed, their entire body begins to slow down, including on a microscopic level.
They can enter a state called biostasis, where they can endure near complete dehydration for years until water becomes available again.
Now, scientists have discovered that a protein that enables homeostasis in tardigrades may have a similar effect on human cells.
“Surprisingly, when you introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel, just like tardigrades do, and slow down their metabolism,” said Sylvia Sánchez Martinez, a senior research scientist at the University of Wyoming.
“Furthermore, just like tardigrades, putting human cells with these proteins into biostasis makes them more resistant to stress, giving human cells some of the tardigrade’s abilities.”
This discovery could mean tardigrades are an important weapon in the fight against aging in humans.
If our cells could resist DNA damage from exposure to the sun and toxic substances like tardigrade cells, perhaps the entire aging process could be slowed down, suggest scientists behind a new study. did.
More directly, this discovery means that medicines such as human stem cells and hemophilia blood products that require refrigeration can be transported without them, increasing access to life-saving medicines for people in developing countries. means expanding.
A key part of this process is a series of proteins called CAHS, which are “intrinsically disordered” proteins that slow the tardigrade until it reaches bioquiescence.
In biostasis, the animal turns into a “tun”, the name of the dormant tardigrade.
This ability is one of many that allows you to survive extreme conditions.
This image compares one protein that does not form a gel, lysozyme (top left), with two proteins that do form a gel, CAHS D (bottom) and gelatin (top right). Gelatin, a common ingredient in desserts, has a structure very similar to the tardigrade’s CAHS protein, suggesting the tardigrade’s gel-forming ability.
Tardigrades are classified as extremophiles because they can survive arid conditions by changing to a dry state and can persist in that state for years.
In Tun State, tardigrades are unharmed by all kinds of abuse.
They can be exposed to radiation many times the amount that would kill humans, but damage suppressors in their DNA keep them safe.
It can heat up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit or cool down to nearly 500 degrees below freezing.
As long as they are in a biostatic state, they are safe.
Scientists thought this was due to a sugar called trehalose that tardigrades and other dehydration-tolerant microorganisms can produce.
But recently it became clear that that’s not the whole story.
While trehalose appears to protect some sensitive biological substances, the CAHS protein appears to be responsible for slowing everything down and stopping the tardigrades in time.
In biostasis, the fluid in the tardigrade’s body turns into a gel as the molecules slow down and enter a tun state.
Human kidney cells treated with CAHS D (top two rows) tolerate stress much better than untreated cells (top row) or cells treated with gene therapy to increase stress resistance (bottom two rows). I endured.
Previous studies have shown that when a tardigrade begins bioquiescence, its body produces more and more CAHS proteins.
And the more CAHS protein there is, the more gel-like the animal’s interior becomes.
In the new study, introducing the CAHS protein into human cells also slowed the cells down and caused them to gel.
“Surprisingly, when you introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down their metabolism, just like tardigrades do,” said study author Sylvia Sánchez Martinez, a senior research scientist at the University of Wyoming.
“Furthermore, just like tardigrades, when human cells with these proteins are put into biostasis, they become more resistant to stress, giving human cells some of the tardigrade’s abilities.” Martinez said.
Additionally, this process can be reversed, just as tardigrades break out of biostasis.
“When stress is relieved, the tardigrade gel dissolves and human cells return to normal metabolism,” said lead author Thomas Boothby, assistant professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming.
The results provide insight into how tardigrades develop such ethereal stress tolerance, but they go beyond that, Boothby, Sánchez-Martinez, and their co-authors say. They write as follows: Whole organisms can also slow down aging and increase storage and stability. ”
The study was published in the journal Protein Science.
What is a tardigrade?
Tardigrades, also known as tardigrades, are said to be the most indestructible animals in the world.
These small, segmented creatures come in a variety of forms, with more than 900 species and can be found in every corner of the world, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans.
Tardigrades, also known as tardigrades, are said to be the most indestructible animals in the world.
They have eight legs (four pairs), each with four to eight claws similar to bear claws.
If you boil a 1mm living thing, freeze it, dry it, and expose it to radiation, it will have enough resilience to continue living 200 years later.
An illustration of a tardigrade (tardigrade) is drawn.
Tardigrades can survive temperatures as low as -457 degrees Celsius, temperatures as high as 357 degrees Celsius, and radiation levels of 5,700 Gy, which would kill humans and most other animals at 10 to 20 Gy.
Tardigrades have been around for 530 million years, outliving dinosaurs.
This animal can live for 10 years without water and can survive in space.
