Naked mole rats are the strangest centenarians on Earth. These wrinkled mammals live in the desert of East Africa and, like insects, create underground colonies, each of which contains at least a hundred individuals. It is interesting that at the head of each colony is a queen – the largest female protected by the others (just like ants). These small animals move incredibly quickly, diving headlong into the sand and burying themselves in it. It is also amazing that naked mole rats can live for as long as 18 minutes without oxygen, and few people probably like their appearance – wrinkled skin and huge teeth, at least, cause bewilderment. Nevertheless, it is these animals that are of great interest to scientists around the world and in particular gerontologists – all because naked mole rats do not age and live much longer than all other rodents. Researchers hope that thanks to naked mole rats they will be able to develop drugs aimed at combating aging.
Naked mole rats live much longer than other rodents due to a special anti-aging process. Image: i.natgeofe.com
Naked mole rats are the longest-living rodents on the planet. Most mice, rats and hamsters do not live to be five years old.
Contents
- 1 Ageless rodents
- 2 The secret of longevity
- 3 Aging cells
- 4 The source of eternal youth
Ageless rodents
Despite the fact that naked mole rats are much smaller than their closest relatives, mice. So, if mice live a maximum of three years, naked mole rats live more than 30 years. And although mole rats look like wrinkled old men, this is where all the similarities end. These animals, as scientists have found out, do not age and do not suffer from diseases that are usually observed in all mammals of old age.
For example, naked mole rats are almost never prone to cancer or cardiovascular disease, and previous studies have shown that these animals are generally not prone to premature death and seem to be completely changing our understanding of longevity and aging.
The oldest naked mole rat known to science lived to be 40 years old, an unimaginable feat for any other rodent. Image: alleninstitute.org
Like many insects, naked mole rats are eusocialanimals (that is, they live in organized groups with a division of labor, like bees and ants): in the wild, they leave their homes only to found new colonies, and never join other colonies, due to the threat of brutal reprisals against intruders.
In 2018, scientists found that animals that do not breed in the smallest colonies have statistically higher mortality rates, especially males. Larger animals also have a better chance of survival. These differences, however, are explained more by social dynamics and violence than by aging.
The results of a study published in 2017 in the journal Nature Aging showed that the age of these tiny rodents can be determined by identifying the so-called “epigenetic clock” – a set of epigenetic DNA marks that allows one to determine the biological age of a tissue, cell or organ. Thus, with their help, scientists were able to determine the age of 325 different species of mammals, including humans and naked mole rats. The queens of the latter, by the way, age even more slowly than all other individuals.
We had hoped that naked mole rats would be the only rodents whose age could not be measured. But after carefully analyzing their blood and several other tissues, we identified seven signs that allow us to accurately track their age, say the authors of the scientific paper from the University of Rochester.
The Secret to Longevity
In fact, the longevity of naked mole rats was discovered relatively recently, in the late 1990s, when scientists studying them in the laboratory noticed that the rodents simply… continued to live. This discovery attracted the attention of many gerontologists from around the world – they all hoped that studying naked mole rats would help develop drugs to combat aging. And although humans have exceptional longevity compared to average mammals, we, unlike naked mole rats, are susceptible to age-related diseases at the end of our lives.
One of the secrets to the long life and good health of mole rats was discovered by scientists from the University of Rochester. As it turns out, it's all about hyaluronic acid, which mole rats produce in abundance. This molecule appears to have anti-tumor activity, and is also a popular ingredient in skin care products for those who want the soft skin of naked mole rats (seriously, hyaluronic acid is great for hydrating and protecting tissue).
Naked mole rats dig tunnels with their teeth. Image: www.lifespan.io
Scientists still have much to learn, however, including whether naked mole rats have additional molecular mechanisms that promote healthy aging. Some researchers believe that these little rodents are so long-lived that scientists simply haven’t been able to capture the full spectrum of their natural lifespan. And while it may seem counterintuitive that an animal that apparently doesn’t age in the traditional sense still shows age-related changes in its DNA, gerontologists believe that these marks reflect protection against old age.
Read more: Superhero rodents: naked mole rats don’t feel many types of pain
Aging cells
With naked mole rats receiving a lot of attention in recent years, recent research has revealed more and more about them. It has been found that mole rats can remove damaged cells from their bodies that would otherwise remain inside and cause health problems. This discovery is really important because it brings researchers one step closer to understanding how to get rid of old cells.
And that's key to the fight against ageing – remember that part of the ageing process, both in humans and rodents like mice and mole rats, is that some cells stop growing and dividing normally, which is an important process for healthy tissue. A new study published in the EMBO Journal suggests that this discovery could be the key to finding the fountain of youth.
Naked mole rats are the key to eternal youth. Image: cms.londonzoo.org
Senescent cells are a problem because, unlike healthy cells, they do not die and remain in the body, accumulating in tissues and causing inflammation. At the same time, some modern anti-aging research is aimed at getting rid of senescent cells to make room for healthy, well-functioning tissues.
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The source of eternal youth
According to a research team led by scientists from Kumamoto University in Japan, naked mole rats are excellent at tidying up these aging cells, preventing them from deteriorating with age. “We observed how naked mole rat cells and the animals themselves responded to DNA-damaging substances in the lab,” the paper says.
The authors of the study found that naked mole rats have a natural senolytic mechanism– a specific process for destroying problematic cells that clog tissue. By comparing the results with a similar experiment in mice, the scientists were able to identify cellular pathways that help mole rats protect themselves from damage that occurs with aging.
Humanity has been searching for a fountain of youth since ancient times. Who would have thought that naked mole rats would be it. Image: assets.newatlas.com
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According to Kyoko Miura, lead author of the study and professor of aging and longevity at Kumamoto University, more research is needed to better understand , how exactly the process of removing aging cells from the body of naked mole rats occurs, because it is this mechanism that may someday lead to the creation of more effective methods of anti-aging therapy for people.
Further research is needed to understand which types of senescent cells should be removed, when and how. Such research could help develop safer and more targeted senolytic drugs, the authors of the article explained in an official press release.
Scientists are getting closer to solving the mystery of naked mole rats' longevity. But there's still a lot of work ahead. Image: www.futurity.org
Still, there's no need to envy naked mole rats' natural youth just yet. After all, simple habits like regular exercise, eating vegetables, and creating strong social connections are scientifically proven ways to extend your life, and you can start right now. We talked about how to do this in this article, don't miss it!