A Good Choice of Pet

High-throughput analysis of proteins in naked mole rats shows that they live longer because their proteins are more resistant to unfolding, says an article in Technology Review. The work, published in PNAS this week, looked across oxidation states of protein cysteines to find how the longest-lived rodent can withstand oxidative stress, which is thought to be a culprit in aging. When compared to mice, mole rates had less age-related oxidation damage to thiol groups and age-associated up-regulation of homeostatic proteolytic activity. "Our first plan is to try and identify the proteins that protect and are protected in naked mole rats," coauthor Rochelle Buffenstein says.