We talked about this in regard to protein chaperones when I was taking
a first year grad school course on Cellular Biology. Apparently, a
primary reason cells normally get destroyed upon dessication is that
the proteins glom up and cannot be properly separated upon hydration.
Protein chaperones, of which heat shock proteins are one type, bind up
proteins upon dessication and prevent them from glomming up. When the
cell is hydrated, the chaperone releases them and the cell can resume
its activity. A plant was found in a museum after sitting in a closet
and was revived with water (some special desert plant which uses
chaperones whose name I can't recall). I think Sea monkeys of
yesteryear work his way to.
A search for 'heat shock protein dessication' at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ turned up 10 matches which look
relevant.
Susan Lindquist at the University of Chicago studies chaperones and
protein folding and was recently interviewed on Odyssey, a Chicago NPR
program, http://www.wbez.org/services/od/od-001129.ram.
E-Mail: s-lindquist at uchicago.edu
Web: http://molbio.uchicago.edu/Faculty/Susan_Lindquist.html
Her web site has a fair amount if information on the role of
chaperones.
John Hunter
>>>>> "George" == George Hammond <ghammond at mediaone.net> writes:
George> [Hammond] Cryptobiosis created quite a sensation in the
George> 19th century when it was first discovered... even such
George> luminaries as Paul Broca studied it. Turns out the
George> mechanism is still not well understood in the 21st
George> century. Small animals, less than 1-mm in size, composed
George> typically of 1,000 cells, but having a brain, nervecords,
George> digestive system, feet etc. (nematodes, tardigrades, brine
George> shrimp, rotifers etc.) can actually be (naturally or
George> artificially) decissitated, frozen, vacuumized, heated
George> etc.. and are virtually ruled "dead", sometimes for years,
George> decades or centuries... can then be revived by simply
George> putting them in a drop of water! These are animals, not
George> plants, mind you. In the 19th century this was considered
George> proof of the "Resurrection" and caused quite a
George> controversy. I am curious as to what present day thinking
George> about this phenomena is.... e.g., are these animals
George> actually "dead" during cryptobiosis? I mean, what is the
George> definition of "dead"? Are spores dead? On the technical
George> side, has any in depth research been done on the solid
George> state structure of the cells? for instance, is their
George> microtubulin activity during this phase? Any activity at
George> all? does anybody know who the world's leading expert on
George> this subject is? Any recent hi-grade research
George> publications on the subject? Journals dedicated to the
George> subject? -- BE SURE TO VISIT MY WEBSITE, BELOW:
George> -----------------------------------------------------------
George> George Hammond, M.S. Physics Email: ghammond at mediaone.net
George> Website: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ghammond/index.html
George> -----------------------------------------------------------