Scientists may have found the fountain of youth in an unlikely candidate: the naked mole rat.
Naked mole rats live incredibly long lives for their size--up to 31 years. By comparison, mice live four years at most. A new study identifying a protein associated with this remarkable longevity may provide clues for preventing aging-related diseases in humans, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The miracle protein--a molecular chaperone protein known as HSP25--helps to dispose of incorrectly manufactured or damaged proteins before they can become toxic. Toxic proteins that are prone to forming aggregates, or clumps, have been associated with a range of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
"Using a variety of rodents, we found that the amount of HSP25 present in their tissues positively correlated with the animal's maximum lifespan," Karl Rodriguez, a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a statement. "If we can understand how HSP25 levels are regulated, what its function is and how it contributes to cell health, we might find ways to use this protein to combat devastating age-related diseases."
The findings were presented April 28 at the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting in San Diego.
"In animals with higher levels of HSP25, having more of these quality-control proteins means they are primed to react when there is a problem, so they can quickly transport the faulty protein to cellular garbage dumps and maintain the health of the cell," Rodriguez said.
Humans have a similar version of HSP25, called HSP27. Finding a way to regulate levels of HSP27 could potentially help to prevent or treat such diseases.
- read the press release