How naked mole rats survive oxygen deprivation

Abstract

Naked mole rats are famous for their lovable ugliness, their extremely long lives, their ability to evade cancer, and now, too, their capacity to survive without oxygen for 18 minutes. This suffocating experience would kill a mouse—a mammal of similar size, albeit with significantly more hair. According to a new study, the naked mole rat manages the feat by altering its metabolism (Science 2017, DOI: 10.1126/science.aan1505). Naked mole rats are both social and subterranean: The population in one of their underground colonies can surge to nearly 300 members. As a result, the air in these confined, packed spaces is often low in oxygen and high in carbon dioxide. To survive these conditions, naked mole rats switch to fueling their energy-producing glycolysis pathways with fructose instead of glucose, explains Gary R. Lewin of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, who led the research with postdoc Jane Reznick and Thomas J.