Resistance To Cancer
Studies on the growth of fibroblasts in vitro of Spalax judaei and Spalax golani showed that the process of necrosis replaces the role of the systematic apoptosis normally used in many organisms. Low oxygen conditions, such as those common in blind mole rats’ burrows, usually cause cells to undergo apoptosis. In adaptation to higher tendency of cell death, blind mole rats evolved a mutation in the tumor suppressor protein p53 (which is also used in humans) to prevent cells from undergoing apoptosis. Human cancer patients have similar mutations, and blind mole rats were thought to be more susceptible to cancer because their cells cannot undergo apoptosis. However, after a specific amount of time (within 3 days according to a study conducted at the University of Rochester), the cells in blind mole rats release interferon-beta (which the immune system normally uses to counter viruses) in response to over-proliferation of cells caused by the suppression of apoptosis. In this case, the interferon-beta triggers cells to undergo necrosis, and this mechanism also kills cancer cells in blind mole rats. Because of tumor suppression mechanisms such as this, blind mole rats and other spalacids are resistant to cancer.
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