How can the microscopic creatures, tardigrades, also called water bearers, help contribute to developing new medical treatments? This is what a recent study published in Protein Science hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated how tardigrade proteins could replace certain medical treatments when refrigerating those treatments are unavailable, specifically regarding stem cell treatments, and could possibly slow the aging process.
One reason tardigrades are an intriguing option is due to their ability to start and stop suspended animation when presented with outside stressors. Now, researchers are attempting to introduce tardigrade proteins in human cells, and the researchers have found some surprising results.
“Amazingly, when we introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down metabolism, just like in tardigrades,” said Dr. Silvia Sanchez-Martinez, who is a Senior Research Scientist at University of Wyoming and lead author of the study. “Furthermore, just like tardigrades, when you put human cells that have these proteins into biostasis, they become more resistant to stresses, conferring some of the tardigrades’ abilities to the human cells.”
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