The secret of the longest living species of the planet

Unlike many animals, hairless mice have almost no signs of aging. They live nine times longer than mice of similar size and rarely get cancer.

Mole rat hair.Photos: Animals.

With the wrinkled skin of pink and the teeth of the sword, the hairless mouse that lives in East Africa is classified as the ugliest animal on the planet. However, they are the species with the highest longevity in them rodents and health are always in the best condition throughout their lives.

The University of Texas (US) expert team found that the hair removal cycle is capable of effectively removing damaged proteins, while retaining stable and high-quality proteins. Thus they do not carry the usual manifestations of aging such as impaired brain function.

In most organisms, proteins are born and destroyed. Protein complexes with waste removal function will select damaged proteins and regenerate their amino acids to form new proteins. The team found that very few naked mole-protein proteins were marked for destruction. This suggests that they not only possess good proteins but also have a more effective mechanism of eliminating damaged proteins. Thus damaged proteins do not accumulate and destroy cells.

'We believe that the level of protein damage in mole mice is not as important as the ability to effectively remove lesions , ' said biochemist Asish Chaudhuri, a member of the research team. .

After comparing the tissue of the naked mole mouse with the experimental white mice, the team found that the tissue of the naked mole rat was more effective in treating proteins damaged by stress.

According to Dr. Viviana Perez, the lead researcher, compromised protein aggregates cause adverse effects on cells. They are the culprits that cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson, Huntington and Lou Gehrig. If mimicking the ability of the naked moles to eliminate lesion proteins, scientists will find many drugs that can effectively treat these diseases.

The researchers say they will continue to find out if the tissues of other long-lived animals have a mechanism to remove protein that destroys mole-like mice. After that, they will consider the tissue of primates and humans.