Laleh Habibi
1, George Perry
2*, Morteza Mahmoudi
1,3,4*1 Nanotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Biology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
3 Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
4 Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
Abstract
Climate change is having considerable
impact on biological systems. Eras of ice ages and warming shaped the
contemporary earth and origin of creatures including humans.
Warming forces stress conditions on cells. Therefore, cells evolved
elaborate defense mechanisms, such as creation of heat shock proteins,
to combat heat stress. Global warming is becoming a crisis and this
process would yield an undefined increasing rate of neurodegenerative
disorders in future decades. Since heat stress is known to have a
degenerative effects on neurons and, conversely, cold conditions have
protective effect on these cells, we hypothesize that persistent heat
stress forced by global warming might play a crucial role in
increasing neurodegenerative disorders.