14 DAY TRIAL // Blind mole rats live in Southeastern Europe and Middle East and are adapted for a fossorial life.
But an underground life exposes an animal to low oxygen levels for long periods of time in its subterranean galleries.
Now Israeli scientists at the Institute of Evolution at the University of Haifa have focused on how these rodents could help humans for treatments against diseases provoked by lack of oxygen supply (hypoxia) to tissues, like heart attacks, strokes, cancer, pulmonary hypertension, kidney diseases, diabetes caused ulcers and blindness, toxemia and altitude sickness.
"Blind mole rats live most of their lives in underground tunnels and therefore have developed special adaptation mechanisms for dealing with lack of oxygen. This mechanism enables the blind mole rats not only to survive, but to engage in active lives in conditions with very little oxygen," explained Prof. Eviatar Nevo, director of the Institute of Evolution.
Finding the genes that give the rodent's cells protection against oxygen shortage will lead to the development of new drugs to treat conditions associated with lack of oxygen.
The researchers discovered that a blind mole rat can resist at least 14 hours in conditions of 3% oxygen, whereas there is 21% oxygen in the air we and all surface mammals breathe.
"Heart attacks, strokes and cancer combined cause two-thirds of deaths in the Western world and therefore there is great significance in finding new medical treatments to address them. From the research conducted on blind mole rats at the institute, unique characteristics such as heart and lung structure and function were discovered, as well as oxygen-connecting proteins in blood and tissues, red blood cell production, new blood vessel growth and halting cell death. In blind mole rat genomes there are many genes that can be used in medicine. Understanding the molecular system of blind mole rats can bring about breakthroughs in developing new treatments for treating diseases caused by lack of oxygen," stressed Prof. Nevo.