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Radiation in DNA – gray head

Japanese biologists were able to identify one of the reasons posedeniya hair. It turned out to be radiation, causing DNA damage in stem cells. The scientists believe their discovery will allow a better understanding of important processes such as updating of tissue, cell specialization and the development of an organism.

biologists from Japan conducted an experiment on the influence of radiation on posedenie mice. The work of a group of 11 researchers examined the susceptibility of different types of stem cells to ionizing radiation damage. Their interest was due to the fact that stem cells offer the development of organs in general, and many doctors consider them promising means of treating various diseases. In addition, DNA-repair mechanisms play an important role in protecting against cancer.

DNA against radiation

The researchers emphasize that damage DNA, and there are fixed permanently. All organisms on Earth – from bacteria to man – face a variety of factors that may cause damage to vital molecules: in each cell for the night happens to hundreds of thousands of breakages.

Of course, if it were not for the natural mechanisms «repair» the DNA, the life in its present form could not exist. To eliminate damage to the cell using various enzymes, and only in extreme cases, damage leads to inherited error.

Stem cells

Normal cells are usually tightly specialized. The cells of the skin, neurons in the brain, erythrocytes and muscle cells – they can not arbitrarily turn to each other. Their «profession» meet a lot of genes that provide the appearance of the cells of all its unique features. If DNA is damaged and this damage is high, then the cell at risk of becoming a loss of specialization and uncontrollably reproducing cell tumors.

But scientists are not interested in normal cells, and stem. They do not have a narrow focus, but they are not malignant. On the contrary, precisely when they are obtained by dividing those cells that acquire specialty: stem cells provide the development, growth and renewal of the body.

When the damaged foundation

If the damaged DNA, most likely, nothing will happen. System recovery «fix breakage». If a lot of damage (eg, the body exposed to radiation), then again, the damage cause mutations of individual cells and these cells will be destroyed by the immune system. But what happens if I suffer a significant number of stem cells?

Doctors and biologists have found that in mice, which was subjected to radiation effects, the skin stem cells are not dead, and become mature melanocytes . Melanocytes is responsible for producing a dark pigment, but not capable of division. Therefore, over time new cells otzhili life, and in their place to stand, it was already there. Mice started to gray, and are responsible for the black color of their skin melanocytes no longer restored.

What told gray mouse?

The scientists believe their discovery will allow a better understanding of important processes such as updating of tissue, cell specialization and the development of an organism. In the future, this knowledge is useful not only to search for ways to restore the natural mechanisms of hair coloring. It may be that gray mouse move towards health and treatment of stem cells of various diseases.