Certain species of bats live an surprisingly long life for their diminutive size, and they could be able to teach us one or two on the resistance cancer As they get older.
Cancer is the price we pay to live longer. While we accumulate genetic mutations of a lifespan of stressors of stress, each cell division raises the risk that something goes wrong.
But many species of bats seem to deceive the system. Some can live up to 40 – Almost 10 times longer than what would be planned according to their body size. If humans had the same longevity, we could regularly pile up 180 candles on our birthday cakes.
A new study, led by researchers from the University of Rochester in the United States, has studied how bats seem to prevent cancer from being hung on their in-depth lifespan. It turns out that they found a very meticulous balance between two competing forces.
Several species of bats have proven to have several copies of a Tumor removal gene called P53. Humans have only one copy, while other cancer resistant animals, like elephantsboasts up to 20. The mutations in this gene are linked to more than half of all human cancers.
But an overly aggressive mechanism to kill cells is obviously not desirable either. Fortunately, bats compensate a hyperactive enzyme called telomeraseThis allows their cells to continue to proliferate.
Again, isolation too much telomerase activity would cause an increased risk of cancer, but P53 MOPS IT UP action. It is a remarkable balance which is difficult not to envy.
The icing on the top is the extreme effectiveness of the immune systems of bats, which seem to be able to effectively kill the thug cells, with little inflammation to show.
At this stage early, it is difficult to know how much it could work in humans, but tThe team says that the study confirms P53the role of cancer prevention, which lends weight Many development drugs targeting the gene.
Research was published in the journal Nature communications.