Biologists fut coins Andrei Seluanov and Vera

[fifacoinsopp]

Biologists fut coins Andrei Seluanov and Vera Gorbunova from theUniversity of Rochester were building upon researchthey did last year that found blind mole rats hadcells that were extremely sensitive to overcrowding. Effectively, aprotein switch caused cancer cells to kill themselves beyond adozen or so multiplications, stopping any tumours forming.

That study looked at two species of blind mole rat, but thislatest study of naked mole rats has thrown further light on howthat mechanism works. It turns out to be all about a chemical thatall mammals possess, but which a freak of evolution has changeddramatically in naked mole rats.

Seluanov and Gorbunova were trying to grow naked mole rat cellsin the lab, but found that their equipment was quickly clogging upwith a mysterious goo. This turned out to be ahigh molecularweight hyaluronan (HMW-HA), a kind of sugar common in all mammalsthat usually fills the gaps between cells.