In 2013, Science magazine declared the naked mole rat, Heterocephalus glaber , vertebrate of the year. Of course, their editors had good reasons for making that decision. This small mammal – it measures about 15 centimeters and does not exceed 80 grams in weight – not only lives ten times longer than other rodents – about 30 years – but also has extraordinary physiological peculiarities, including resistance to cancer and pain .
Now, a team of researchers from different institutions coordinated by experts from the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Illinois, in Chicago, and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, in Berlin, has announced in the same medium that they can also survive in environments with very little oxygen without damage .
To determine this, they studied how they cope in an environment with only 5% of that gas, that is, 15% less than that contained in the air we usually breathe. After five hours, this did not appear to have affected the naked mole rats. In contrast, laboratory mice that were subjected to the same experiment died in just 15 minutes .
When the scientists put several specimens in a chamber in which there was no oxygen, they observed that they fell unconscious after 30 seconds. However, unlike mice, which inevitably died in less than a minute, their heart rates went from 200 to 50 beats per minute and they entered a kind of suspended animation state. So they could stay up to 18 minutes. Furthermore, if they were exposed to normal air again, they would regain their functions and return to their activities. In fact, although oxygen deprivation often causes serious damage to the brain and heart, the experience had not affected their tissues .
Scientists believe that the key lies in your metabolism. Instead of using glucose to generate energy, a process that requires the presence of oxygen, the naked mole rats turn to take advantage of fructose when it is not available. This type of sugar favors the same phenomenon, but without the need for the mentioned element. In this sense, experts have observed that Heterocephalus glaber have high levels of GLUT5 throughout their body, a molecule that transports fructose to cells, a trait that distinguishes them from other mammals.
The researchers suspect that this ability is the result of an evolutionary adaptation that allows them to survive in the environment in which they live , large underground complexes in East Africa where oxygen is scarce. In the future, this finding could be used to develop strategies to prevent brain damage to those affected by a heart attack.
Imagen: Roland Gockel / MDC
