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Human cells are warming up to
self-destruction

Cellular processes are maintained by the function of proteins, which means finding ways to control protein function dictates the development of biotech tools.

This is incredibly difficult to do with precision. But it can be done with thermogenetics — a bit of heating or cooling of the protein to activate or deactivate it.

Researchers from Kanazawa University have achieved this heat-triggered on/off switch by combining two parts: caspase-8 (a protein that instructs cells when it’s time to die) and elastin-like polypeptides, or ELPs, which clump together when the temperature rises above 35-40 degrees Celsius.

Fuse these together and the result is a protein that stays quiet until things warm up, at which time the ELPs bunch up, dragging the caspase-8 molecules close enough to flip on the self-destruct signal.

By testing in human cell lines and adding a fluorescent “glow” reporter, the team was able to watch the process live. The heat was added with a precise infrared laser and cell death was triggered in single cells.

The results, published in ACS Nano, mean scientists now have a novel way to study and control cell behavior with pinpoint accuracy. This opens doors for therapies targeting certain cells (like cancer therapies) and leaving the others untouched.

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Cold calling

New research from the University of Ottawa, a famously cold place, shows that just one week of daily cold-water immersion can help the body’s cells better cope with cold.

In the study, young men who spent 60 minutes a day in 14 degrees Celsius water showed a shift in their cells’ response to cold stress. At first, cold exposure triggered signs of damage, but by the end of the week, cells were activating protective systems instead — breaking down damaged components and reducing early signs of cell death.

These changes suggest that the body can become more resilient to cold not just on the outside, but at the cellular level.

To test how well this cold training worked, researchers took blood samples and cooled them in the lab. After acclimation, the cells responded better to low temperatures, showing more protective activity and fewer signs of stress, even at 4 degrees C. Although some signs of inflammation remained, they were lower than before. The findings point to cold exposure as a possible way to train the body’s cells to handle extreme conditions.

More like this: Ice, ice baby