Scientists at the University of Cologne in Germany used experiments on worms to find that cold drives a process by which damaged proteins are removed from cells. Let’s see the research published on Nature Aging.
Several neurodegenerative diseases that can take hold as we age such as Alzheimer’s which is predicted by a sugar, are linked to the accumulation of particular proteins. This is why it is essential to find out how temperature affects this processin such a way as to slow down or even prevent this deterioration from happening.
“Extremely low temperatures are harmful, but a moderate decrease in body temperature can have beneficial effects on the body“, write the researchers in their published paper.
The team ran various tests simultaneously on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and on human cells grown in the laboratory. The results demonstrate how colder temperatures have led to removal of protein lumps that accumulate in animal and cellular models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease.
In fact, structures called proteasomes have been identified that break down protein waste. Specifically regarding the effects on worms, that was enough a moderate drop in temperature to make the activator work and clean up the accumulation of potentially dangerous proteins. But why should we care about the results of these little animals?
Although it may seem otherwise, C. elegans has much in common with humans including the way protein can aggregate, and this explains why the worm is often used in research. In fact, there are several genetic similarities with our species.
“Taken together, these results show that throughout evolution, cold has preserved its influence on proteasome regulation, with therapeutic implications for aging and diseases associated with aging“says biologist David Vilchez of the University of Cologne in Germany.
After seeing How hot can a human survive? and whereas the average internal temperature of the human body it has been steadily declining over the decadesall of this could be related to the increase in life expectancy.