Cold temperatures trigger a cellular cleansing process that dismantles dangerous protein clumps, which are responsible for various age-related diseases. Recent research on various model organisms has also revealed that reducing body temperature leads to a significant increase in lifespan. However
Cold temperatures activate a cellular cleansing mechanism that breaks down harmful protein aggregations associated with aging and age-related diseases. Researchers at the University of Cologne found that a moderate decrease in temperature activated proteasome activity, which removed damaging protein deposits related to neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Huntington’s, in nematodes and human cells.
CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Aging Research has recently uncovered one of these mechanisms. Their findings were recently published in the journalProfessor Dr. David Vilchez and his working group used a non-vertebrate model organism, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and cultivated human cells. Both carried the genes for two neurodegenerative diseases which typically occur in old age: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.
“Taken together, these results show how over the course of evolution, cold has preserved its influence on proteasome regulation – with therapeutic implications for aging and aging-associated diseases,” said Professor Vilchez.
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