Evolution of high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid is associated with subterranean lifestyle
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Abstract
Hyaluronic acid is a major component of extracellular matrix which plays an important role in development, cellular response to injury and inflammation, cell migration, and cancer. The naked mole-rat ( Heterocephalus glaber ) contains abundant high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid in its tissues, which contributes to this species’ cancer resistance and possibly to its longevity. Here we report that abundant high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid is found in a wide range of subterranean mammalian species, but not in phylogenetically related aboveground species. These subterranean mammalian species accumulate abundant high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid by regulating the expression of genes involved in hyaluronic acid degradation and synthesis and contain unique mutations in these genes. The abundant high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid may benefit the adaptation to subterranean environment by increasing skin elasticity and protecting from oxidative stress due to hypoxic conditions. Our work suggests that high-molecular-mass hyaluronic acid has evolved with subterranean lifestyle.
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Cites
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- Authors
- Zhao, Y., Zheng, Z., Zhang, Z., Xu, Y., Hillpot, E., Lin, Y. S., Zakusilo, F. T., Lu, J. Y., Ablaeva, J., Biashad, S. A., Miller, R. A., Nevo, E., Seluanov, A., & Gorbunova, V.
- Affiliations
- First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (CN)
- University of Rochester (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- University of Haifa (IL)
- University of Rochester Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Seluanov, Andrei
- Gorbunova, Vera
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2023-12-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8054-8054
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10698142
- OpenAlex
- W4389333293
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 4.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG046320, R01AG027237, P01AG047200, R37AG046320, P01AG051449)
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LZ23C110002)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans research
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Tardigrade Biology and Ecology
- Keywords
- subterranean mammals, naked mole-rat, extracellular matrix, hyaluronan synthesis, hyaluronan degradation, gene expression regulation, hypoxia, oxidative stress, skin elasticity, tumor resistance, longevity, adaptive evolution
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