The
naked mole rat genome resource: facilitating analyses of cancer and longevity-related adaptations.
Vera Gorbunova, PhD (Professor, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York) reported on the investigations she and her husband (Andrei Seluanov, PhD) have made into why
naked mole rats live so long and don't get cancer.
According to the current results, the
naked mole rat cells secrete extremely high-molecular mass HA, which is over five times larger than human or mouse HA.
Dr Magalhaes added: "We aim to use the
naked mole rat genome to understand the level of resistance it has to disease, particularly cancer, because this might give us more clues as to why some animals and humans are more prone to disease than others.
"With this work we want to establish the
naked mole rat as the first model of resistance to chronic diseases of ageing."
Naked mole rats are small, hairless, subterranean rodents that have never been known to get cancer, despite having a 30-year lifespan.
But
naked mole rats have fully functional acid sensors.
Just how a
naked mole rat queen dominates her subjects is still not entirely clear.
The
naked mole rat, a burrowing rodent that lives in colonies much like those of ants, has already proven to be an excellent tool for aging and biomedical research because it is resistant to cancer and maintains protein integrity in the brain despite being exposed to oxidative damage, Dr.
The
naked mole rat had the most robust and enduring supply.
For years, scientists have observed that just one female
naked mole rat in a colony of about 80 animals does all of the breeding.