How the body adapts to extreme heat
As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, scientists are studying whether heat acclimation can help protect vulnerable populations.
Scientists have discovered how a deep-sea protein adapts to extreme pressure, allowing it to remain functional in harsh conditions. Deep-sea environments exert immense pressure that can disrupt the structures of proteins essential for life. Professor Gaku Fukuhara of Kyushu University's Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering led a research team that investigated how a deep-sea protein remains stable under these extreme conditions.
They found that as pressure increases, the protein forms trimeric structures, which stabilize itself through a process called oligomerization-mediated structural stabilization. The study, published in Scientific Reports, compared microbial rhodopsins from deep-sea and terrestrial bacteria. While terrestrial rhodopsins denatured under pressure, deep-sea rhodopsins maintained their structure and normal light-absorption properties.
The deep-sea protein's resilience was attributed to its ability to form trimeric structures under high pressure. This discovery could lead to the development of light-responsive protein materials for use in harsh conditions and provide insights into how organisms adapt to extreme environments, potentially impacting medical research in areas like cancer treatment.
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