Freeze ’em, crank up the heat, or even shoot ’em into the void of space; those tough little beasts known as tardigrades just keep on ticking. Their uncanny survival abilities are in part thanks to turning their guts into a gel-like substance, though the specifics of this metabolic magic trick are still kinda hazy.
University of Wyoming’s latest research has thrown a spotlight on this mystery, revealing that human cells, when endowed with certain tardigrade proteins, throttle down their metabolism. This is a big deal for understanding how these nearly indestructible critters endure extreme environments.
The spotlight’s on this one protein, CAHS D, famous for its role in defending against bone-dry conditions. The researchers applied a mix of techniques to show how CAHS D goes all gel-like under stress, keeping crucial molecules safe and sound from desiccation.
In their paper, the researchers penned down, “This study gives us a peek into how tardigrades, maybe even other critters that can tolerate drying out, manage to stick around by using biomolecular condensation.”
They went on, “Looking past just surviving stress, our discoveries could lead to tech for triggering biostasis in cells, maybe even whole creatures, to put the brakes on aging, and bump up storage and stability.”
Tardigrades are champs at weathering scorching heat, bone-chilling cold, lethal doses of radiation, and droughts that would normally mean game over for life as we know it. Space? No sweat for them, either.
Loads of studies have already cataloged a vast array of survival methods tardigrades have in their arsenal, fine-tuned over a mind-boggling number of years. Bottom line, they’re pros at hitting the life’s pause button with a little help from CAHS D, and that could come in handy for us humans, too.
Molecular biologist Silvia Sanchez-Martinez from the University of Wyoming is awed, saying, “When we put these proteins into human cells, they gel up and dial back metabolism, just like with tardigrades.”
She explains that this gelling action when human cells get these proteins makes them tougher against stress, kinda lending human cells a bit of tardigrade superpowers.
Down the road, we might just crack the code to gift our cells this same hardcore tardigrade toughness, which could be a game-changer for slowing down how fast we age or in managing cells for medical procedures like organ transplants, where keeping cells on ice is crucial.
But there’s a long road ahead to fully leverage this power swap. Research is on the move, with some eyes on whether tardigrade proteins can help stabilize important blood products for treating genetic illnesses. The early results? They’re looking up, especially how these proteins smartly turn on during stress and chill out when it’s gone.
Once the pressure’s off, the tardigrade goo melts away, and those human cells? They bounce right back to their regular metabolic hustle, says University of Wyoming’s molecular biologist Thomas Boothby.
They’ve got this all written up in Protein Science, no less.
