They can barely see, are impervious to pain, have almost no hair, and spend the bulk of their lives eking out a hardscrabble underground existence. Yet naked mole rats may hold the key to developing better treatments for strokes and drowning, scientists have discovered.
Research in the Dec. 9 issue of NeuroReport outlines the amazing hardiness of the bucktoothed rodents’ brains, which can withstand extreme oxygen deprivation for more than a half-hour, far longer than other mammals. In humans, for example, lack of oxygen begins to cause permanent brain damage within minutes.
This unique property is part of suite of adaptations that help mole rats survive in their harsh environment—in cramped networks of tunnels dug beneath the East African soil. In such tight quarters, the air’s oxygen gets used up quickly and concentrations of carbon dioxide skyrocket. Brain researchers have already found that naked mole rats lack a key chemical, substance P, needed to transmit pain signals, for instance, which is believed to allow them to ignore acidic buildup in their tissues that would to us feel excruciating.
The new study found that, in many ways, naked mole rat neurons resemble the brain cells of fetuses; because the womb is a low-oxygen environment, such immature brain cells show much greater resistance to oxygen deprivation than those seen in adults. Finding out how naked mole rats retain this youthful ruggedness could help doctors stave off the neuron death that often follows heart attacks, traumatic accidents, or medical emergencies, the study authors say.
—Aalok Mehta
Comments