由韩国梨花女子大学和华大基因共同主导完成的裸鼹鼠基因组研究成果，10月13日在国际顶尖杂志《自然》(Nature)上在线发表。
中韩研究人员发现，TERT等衰老调控基因的稳定表达，可能与裸鼹鼠的长寿相关；p16Ink4a与p19Arf的独特调控机制可能是裸鼹鼠抗癌的重要因素；HIF1a和VHL的特异突变可能是裸鼹鼠具有低氧耐受性的原因之一。
科学家们希望通过多组学研究揭开其“长生不老”的秘笈，挖掘裸鼹鼠“抗痛抗癌”机理，为人类抗衰老、抗癌症等生物医学研究作出更多贡献。
研究人员还发现在裸鼹鼠基因组中有200多个基因发生功能缺失，其中有10多个基因与视觉相关，这可能与裸鼹鼠视力的退化有重要关系。这些基因的缺失为研究人员从分子水平上深入探讨裸鼹鼠视力退化、体温调节发生障碍、无疼痛感、无毛等奇特生物适应性退化研究奠定科研基础。
华大基因该项目负责人方晓东说，该研究首次从基因组、转录组水平上对裸鼹鼠奇特的生物学特性进行诠释，不仅有助于科学家们更加清楚地阐明裸鼹鼠能在黑暗、低氧等恶劣环境中生存并且能够保持长寿和抗癌的生理机理，同时对促进其他生物学和生物医学研究也具有十分重要的意义。
裸鼹鼠是一种分布于东非部分地区的挖掘类啮齿目动物，也是目前仅有的两种真社会性哺乳动物之一。它们居住在地下洞穴，全身无毛，牙齿外突，状如香肠，是世界上最丑陋的动物之一。由于它们终生生活在黑暗的地下，眼睛高度退化，几乎完全丧失视觉，仅依靠身体两侧的触须来辨认方向，然其寿命长达30年，并能像冷血动物一样，通过与环境的热交换来调节体温。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1038/nature10533
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Genome sequencing reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the naked mole rat
Eun Bae Kim, Xiaodong Fang, Alexey A. Fushan,Zhiyong Huang,Alexei V. Lobanov, Lijuan Han,Stefano M. Marino, Xiaoqing Sun,Anton A. Turanov,Pengcheng Yang, Sun Hee Yim, Xiang Zhao, Marina V. Kasaikina, Nina Stoletzki, Chunfang Peng, Paz Polak, Zhiqiang Xiong, Adam Kiezun,Yabing Zhu, Yuanxin Chen, Gregory V. Kryukov,, Qiang Zhang,Leonid Peshkin, Lan Yang, Roderick T. Bronson,Rochelle Buffenstein,Bo Wang,Changlei Han,Qiye Li,Li Chen,Wei Zhao,Shamil R. Sunyaev,, 4Thomas J. Park,Guojie Zhang,Jun Wang, 10& Vadim N. Gladyshev ，et al.
The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a strictly subterranean, extraordinarily long-lived eusocial mammal. Although it is the size of a mouse, its maximum lifespan exceeds 30 years, making this animal the longest-living rodent. Naked mole rats show negligible senescence, no age-related increase in mortality, and high fecundity until death. In addition to delayed ageing, they are resistant to both spontaneous cancer and experimentally induced tumorigenesis. Naked mole rats pose a challenge to the theories that link ageing, cancer and redox homeostasis. Although characterized by significant oxidative stress, the naked mole rat proteome does not show age-related susceptibility to oxidative damage or increased ubiquitination. Naked mole rats naturally reside in large colonies with a single breeding female, the ‘queen’, who suppresses the sexual maturity of her subordinates. They also live in full darkness, at low oxygen and high carbon dioxide concentrations, and are unable to sustain thermogenesis nor feel certain types of pain10, 11. Here we report the sequencing and analysis of the naked mole rat genome, which reveals unique genome features and molecular adaptations consistent with cancer resistance, poikilothermy, hairlessness and insensitivity to low oxygen, and altered visual function, circadian rythms and taste sensing. This information provides insights into the naked mole rat’s exceptional longevity and ability to live in hostile conditions, in the dark and at low oxygen. The extreme traits of the naked mole rat, together with the reported genome and transcriptome information, offer opportunities for understanding ageing and advancing other areas of biological and biomedical research.
