By: Ivan Habib

Website Manager

Development and transportation of new medicines and experimentation techniques remain limited by the fragility of cells, proteins, and other biological mechanisms. These delicate materials must be kept refrigerated and in a variety of other preserving conditions. Recently a group of researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago published a study demonstrating preliminary successes in demonstrating how using tardigrade proteins can protect cell membranes allowing for increased durability, even in typically hostile conditions.

Tardigrades, also known colloquially as “water bears,” are small, eight-legged aquatic animals about one millimeter in length. They are one of the most resilient creatures known to scientists, able to survive extreme conditions from freezing to boiling temperatures, high pressure, radiation, and even the vacuum of space. By entering a dormant state known as a tun, the internal cellular structures are preserved, despite external conditions.. This dormant state relies on a class of proteins called Tardigrade Disordered Proteins (TDPs). These proteins allow cellular structures to persist under extreme dehydration, radiation, and temperatures because of the ways they contort to mitigate damage and preserve internal structures even at very low metabolic rates.

The team of researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, found that the preserving properties of TDPs could be effectively transferred to other cells for better preservation. Andrew Ferguson, a co-author of the research from the University of Chicago explained that “we used molecular modeling to show why CAHS12 causes a protective behavior within synthetic cells.” They discovered a mechanism in the attraction that allowed cells to maintain near-perfect structural integrity even under extreme dehydration.

As the project was supported by the U.S. with the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation, there is much interest in potential applications in the Army. Dr. Stephanie McElhinny, the Army Research Office program manager, expressed her aspirations that “cells that can be dried, transported without the need for cold chain management, and then reactivated on-site, could produce critical resources, such as medicines or fuel, at the point of need.” The team’s discovery has other far-reaching implications in efficient storage and cheaper manufacturing, even at room temperature conditions. The authors of the paper noted, “This discovery opens up synthetic cell applications in bioengineering, cold-chain-independent biomanufacturing, and adaptive biointerfaces,” and expressed a hopeful view on integrating other tardigrade proteins for efficient preservation in the future.

(Sources: Nature, University of Michigan)