What is the longest-lasting protein in a human body?











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Protein life times are, on average, not particularly long, on a human life timescale.
I was wondering, how old is the oldest protein in a human body? Just to clarify, I mean in terms of seconds/minutes/days passed from the moment that given protein was translated. I am not sure is the same thing as asking which human protein has the longest half-life, as I think there might be "tricks" the cell uses to elongate a given protein's half-life under specific conditions.



I am pretty sure there are several ways in which a cell can preserve its proteins from degradation/denaturation if it wanted to but to what extent? I accept that a given protein post-translationally modified still is the same protein, even if cut, added to a complex, etc. etc.



And also, as correlated questions: does the answer depend on the age of the given human (starting from birth and accepting as valid proteins translated during pregnancy or even donated by the mother)? What is the oldest protein in a baby's body and what is in a elderly's body? How does the oldest protein lifetime does in comparison with the oldest nucleic acid/cell/molecule/whatever in our body?










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  • 1




    Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
    – Armatus
    yesterday






  • 9




    Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
    – Randall Stewart
    yesterday










  • would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
    – Ooker
    yesterday










  • @Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
    – forest
    yesterday















up vote
44
down vote

favorite
4












Protein life times are, on average, not particularly long, on a human life timescale.
I was wondering, how old is the oldest protein in a human body? Just to clarify, I mean in terms of seconds/minutes/days passed from the moment that given protein was translated. I am not sure is the same thing as asking which human protein has the longest half-life, as I think there might be "tricks" the cell uses to elongate a given protein's half-life under specific conditions.



I am pretty sure there are several ways in which a cell can preserve its proteins from degradation/denaturation if it wanted to but to what extent? I accept that a given protein post-translationally modified still is the same protein, even if cut, added to a complex, etc. etc.



And also, as correlated questions: does the answer depend on the age of the given human (starting from birth and accepting as valid proteins translated during pregnancy or even donated by the mother)? What is the oldest protein in a baby's body and what is in a elderly's body? How does the oldest protein lifetime does in comparison with the oldest nucleic acid/cell/molecule/whatever in our body?










share|improve this question









New contributor




JalfredP is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1




    Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
    – Armatus
    yesterday






  • 9




    Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
    – Randall Stewart
    yesterday










  • would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
    – Ooker
    yesterday










  • @Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
    – forest
    yesterday













up vote
44
down vote

favorite
4









up vote
44
down vote

favorite
4






4





Protein life times are, on average, not particularly long, on a human life timescale.
I was wondering, how old is the oldest protein in a human body? Just to clarify, I mean in terms of seconds/minutes/days passed from the moment that given protein was translated. I am not sure is the same thing as asking which human protein has the longest half-life, as I think there might be "tricks" the cell uses to elongate a given protein's half-life under specific conditions.



I am pretty sure there are several ways in which a cell can preserve its proteins from degradation/denaturation if it wanted to but to what extent? I accept that a given protein post-translationally modified still is the same protein, even if cut, added to a complex, etc. etc.



And also, as correlated questions: does the answer depend on the age of the given human (starting from birth and accepting as valid proteins translated during pregnancy or even donated by the mother)? What is the oldest protein in a baby's body and what is in a elderly's body? How does the oldest protein lifetime does in comparison with the oldest nucleic acid/cell/molecule/whatever in our body?










share|improve this question









New contributor




JalfredP is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











Protein life times are, on average, not particularly long, on a human life timescale.
I was wondering, how old is the oldest protein in a human body? Just to clarify, I mean in terms of seconds/minutes/days passed from the moment that given protein was translated. I am not sure is the same thing as asking which human protein has the longest half-life, as I think there might be "tricks" the cell uses to elongate a given protein's half-life under specific conditions.



I am pretty sure there are several ways in which a cell can preserve its proteins from degradation/denaturation if it wanted to but to what extent? I accept that a given protein post-translationally modified still is the same protein, even if cut, added to a complex, etc. etc.



And also, as correlated questions: does the answer depend on the age of the given human (starting from birth and accepting as valid proteins translated during pregnancy or even donated by the mother)? What is the oldest protein in a baby's body and what is in a elderly's body? How does the oldest protein lifetime does in comparison with the oldest nucleic acid/cell/molecule/whatever in our body?







molecular-biology proteins senescence protein-expression






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edited 3 hours ago









Ben Crowell

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asked 2 days ago









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  • 1




    Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
    – Armatus
    yesterday






  • 9




    Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
    – Randall Stewart
    yesterday










  • would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
    – Ooker
    yesterday










  • @Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
    – forest
    yesterday














  • 1




    Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
    – Armatus
    yesterday






  • 9




    Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
    – Randall Stewart
    yesterday










  • would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
    – Ooker
    yesterday










  • @Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
    – forest
    yesterday








1




1




Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
– Armatus
yesterday




Maternally contributed antibodies? They could be older than you if there are any that persist life-long.
– Armatus
yesterday




9




9




Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
– Randall Stewart
yesterday




Half-Baked suggestion: consider changing the title to ask for the "longest-lasting" protein in the human body. When I first read the title, I wasn't sure if it was asking for the longest-lasting protein, or the protein that has been around the longest in evolutionary terms.
– Randall Stewart
yesterday












would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
– Ooker
yesterday




would there be a protein that is taken from the environment and cannot be produced inside the body? Like vitamins?
– Ooker
yesterday












@Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
– forest
yesterday




@Armatus Antibodies do not and cannot persist lifelong. They're actually destroyed at a rather rapid rate.
– forest
yesterday










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
58
down vote













Crystallin proteins are found in the eye lens (where their main job is probably to define the refractive index of the medium); they are commonly considered to be non-regenerated. So, your crystallins are as old as you are!



Because of this absence of regeneration, the accumulate damage over time, including proteolysis, cross-linkings etc., which is one of the main reasons why visual acuity decays after a certain age: that is where cataracts come from. The cloudy lens is the result of years of degradation events in a limited pool of non-renewed proteins.






share|improve this answer













Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.










  • 10




    To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
    – daign
    yesterday








  • 4




    Great answer, but can you give references? :)
    – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
    yesterday






  • 3




    Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
    – JalfredP
    yesterday










  • I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
    – John
    yesterday






  • 4




    Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
    – iayork
    15 hours ago


















up vote
19
down vote













I like Mowgli's answer, because it is a non-obvious example. However I would also point out that there are many, many protein-based structural components in the body that we know do not regenerate due to associated pathologies; so presumably these structural proteins are as old as from when they first arose in developemnt. Take the stereocilia on hair cells in the cochlea, for instance. The stereocilia structure is actin-filament based, so is a structural protein. Hearing loss occurs due to damage to these structures, which is not repaired. In fact, birds suffer only temporary hearing loss not because they regenerate these structures, but because they grow replacement hair cells.



Once you start thinking about this then, it is pretty clear that many structural proteins will be conserved throughout life (if the cell they are attached to or within remains a part of the body). And many cells of the body remain in the body throughout life, so any proteins that join the cells together, say connexin proteins that form tight junctions between cells, would also presumably be conserved. I say this because I think the energetic cost of degrading a protein that spans two membranes would be too great for it to occur. I have not hear of tight junctions being eliminated, but I may be wrong.



Mowgli's answer is nice because it involves globular rather than fibrous proteins- though Wikipedia still classifies them as structural proteins. I was interested and read this article about them. Interesting stuff! Thank you Mowgli!



I would be interested to know if there are any conserved biochemically active proteins. I would think that extracellular proteins would probably be turned over, and the best chance of finding such a conserved protein would be within a cell that remains for life post differentiation. Perhaps a proteosome complex itself (these are the protein complexes that are involved in protein degradation)? I don;t think ribosomes are degraded either, but I don't find this a very satisfactory example!






share|improve this answer











Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.














  • Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
    – JalfredP
    yesterday










  • I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
    – forest
    yesterday




















up vote
5
down vote













A very interesting example are the cohesin molecules holding sister chromatids together in the oocytes (so only applicable to females, sorry!). Cohesion is established in utero, and these molecules are not recycled throughout life (AFAIK only shown directly for mice, not humans - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971813, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26898469, but presumably same is true for us). This is considered to be a major contributor to the maternal age effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility) through low level loss of cohesion throughout life (since levels of cohesin can't be restored) until chromosomes start losing association between sisters which causes high chances of their missegregation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536066/)






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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    active

    oldest

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    active

    oldest

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    up vote
    58
    down vote













    Crystallin proteins are found in the eye lens (where their main job is probably to define the refractive index of the medium); they are commonly considered to be non-regenerated. So, your crystallins are as old as you are!



    Because of this absence of regeneration, the accumulate damage over time, including proteolysis, cross-linkings etc., which is one of the main reasons why visual acuity decays after a certain age: that is where cataracts come from. The cloudy lens is the result of years of degradation events in a limited pool of non-renewed proteins.






    share|improve this answer













    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.










    • 10




      To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
      – daign
      yesterday








    • 4




      Great answer, but can you give references? :)
      – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
      yesterday






    • 3




      Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
      – John
      yesterday






    • 4




      Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
      – iayork
      15 hours ago















    up vote
    58
    down vote













    Crystallin proteins are found in the eye lens (where their main job is probably to define the refractive index of the medium); they are commonly considered to be non-regenerated. So, your crystallins are as old as you are!



    Because of this absence of regeneration, the accumulate damage over time, including proteolysis, cross-linkings etc., which is one of the main reasons why visual acuity decays after a certain age: that is where cataracts come from. The cloudy lens is the result of years of degradation events in a limited pool of non-renewed proteins.






    share|improve this answer













    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.










    • 10




      To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
      – daign
      yesterday








    • 4




      Great answer, but can you give references? :)
      – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
      yesterday






    • 3




      Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
      – John
      yesterday






    • 4




      Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
      – iayork
      15 hours ago













    up vote
    58
    down vote










    up vote
    58
    down vote









    Crystallin proteins are found in the eye lens (where their main job is probably to define the refractive index of the medium); they are commonly considered to be non-regenerated. So, your crystallins are as old as you are!



    Because of this absence of regeneration, the accumulate damage over time, including proteolysis, cross-linkings etc., which is one of the main reasons why visual acuity decays after a certain age: that is where cataracts come from. The cloudy lens is the result of years of degradation events in a limited pool of non-renewed proteins.






    share|improve this answer














    Crystallin proteins are found in the eye lens (where their main job is probably to define the refractive index of the medium); they are commonly considered to be non-regenerated. So, your crystallins are as old as you are!



    Because of this absence of regeneration, the accumulate damage over time, including proteolysis, cross-linkings etc., which is one of the main reasons why visual acuity decays after a certain age: that is where cataracts come from. The cloudy lens is the result of years of degradation events in a limited pool of non-renewed proteins.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 2 days ago

























    answered 2 days ago









    Mowgli

    63418




    63418



    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.




    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.









    • 10




      To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
      – daign
      yesterday








    • 4




      Great answer, but can you give references? :)
      – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
      yesterday






    • 3




      Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
      – John
      yesterday






    • 4




      Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
      – iayork
      15 hours ago














    • 10




      To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
      – daign
      yesterday








    • 4




      Great answer, but can you give references? :)
      – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
      yesterday






    • 3




      Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
      – John
      yesterday






    • 4




      Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
      – iayork
      15 hours ago








    10




    10




    To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
    – daign
    yesterday






    To back this up: Crystallin proteins were used to determine the age of Greenland sharks. Source
    – daign
    yesterday






    4




    4




    Great answer, but can you give references? :)
    – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
    yesterday




    Great answer, but can you give references? :)
    – SEwontLetMeDeleteProfile
    yesterday




    3




    3




    Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
    – JalfredP
    yesterday




    Nice answer, thanks. I would also like some references. I am waiting for some new answers before confirming the best one, but you are a good candidate :)
    – JalfredP
    yesterday












    I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
    – John
    yesterday




    I agree it is almost certainly in the eye, but why Crystallin specifically?
    – John
    yesterday




    4




    4




    Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
    – iayork
    15 hours ago




    Supported by Identification of long-lived proteins reveals exceptional stability of essential cellular structures and Protein homeostasis: live long, won’t prosper; in particular see Table 1 in the latter
    – iayork
    15 hours ago










    up vote
    19
    down vote













    I like Mowgli's answer, because it is a non-obvious example. However I would also point out that there are many, many protein-based structural components in the body that we know do not regenerate due to associated pathologies; so presumably these structural proteins are as old as from when they first arose in developemnt. Take the stereocilia on hair cells in the cochlea, for instance. The stereocilia structure is actin-filament based, so is a structural protein. Hearing loss occurs due to damage to these structures, which is not repaired. In fact, birds suffer only temporary hearing loss not because they regenerate these structures, but because they grow replacement hair cells.



    Once you start thinking about this then, it is pretty clear that many structural proteins will be conserved throughout life (if the cell they are attached to or within remains a part of the body). And many cells of the body remain in the body throughout life, so any proteins that join the cells together, say connexin proteins that form tight junctions between cells, would also presumably be conserved. I say this because I think the energetic cost of degrading a protein that spans two membranes would be too great for it to occur. I have not hear of tight junctions being eliminated, but I may be wrong.



    Mowgli's answer is nice because it involves globular rather than fibrous proteins- though Wikipedia still classifies them as structural proteins. I was interested and read this article about them. Interesting stuff! Thank you Mowgli!



    I would be interested to know if there are any conserved biochemically active proteins. I would think that extracellular proteins would probably be turned over, and the best chance of finding such a conserved protein would be within a cell that remains for life post differentiation. Perhaps a proteosome complex itself (these are the protein complexes that are involved in protein degradation)? I don;t think ribosomes are degraded either, but I don't find this a very satisfactory example!






    share|improve this answer











    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.














    • Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
      – forest
      yesterday

















    up vote
    19
    down vote













    I like Mowgli's answer, because it is a non-obvious example. However I would also point out that there are many, many protein-based structural components in the body that we know do not regenerate due to associated pathologies; so presumably these structural proteins are as old as from when they first arose in developemnt. Take the stereocilia on hair cells in the cochlea, for instance. The stereocilia structure is actin-filament based, so is a structural protein. Hearing loss occurs due to damage to these structures, which is not repaired. In fact, birds suffer only temporary hearing loss not because they regenerate these structures, but because they grow replacement hair cells.



    Once you start thinking about this then, it is pretty clear that many structural proteins will be conserved throughout life (if the cell they are attached to or within remains a part of the body). And many cells of the body remain in the body throughout life, so any proteins that join the cells together, say connexin proteins that form tight junctions between cells, would also presumably be conserved. I say this because I think the energetic cost of degrading a protein that spans two membranes would be too great for it to occur. I have not hear of tight junctions being eliminated, but I may be wrong.



    Mowgli's answer is nice because it involves globular rather than fibrous proteins- though Wikipedia still classifies them as structural proteins. I was interested and read this article about them. Interesting stuff! Thank you Mowgli!



    I would be interested to know if there are any conserved biochemically active proteins. I would think that extracellular proteins would probably be turned over, and the best chance of finding such a conserved protein would be within a cell that remains for life post differentiation. Perhaps a proteosome complex itself (these are the protein complexes that are involved in protein degradation)? I don;t think ribosomes are degraded either, but I don't find this a very satisfactory example!






    share|improve this answer











    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.














    • Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
      – forest
      yesterday















    up vote
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    up vote
    19
    down vote









    I like Mowgli's answer, because it is a non-obvious example. However I would also point out that there are many, many protein-based structural components in the body that we know do not regenerate due to associated pathologies; so presumably these structural proteins are as old as from when they first arose in developemnt. Take the stereocilia on hair cells in the cochlea, for instance. The stereocilia structure is actin-filament based, so is a structural protein. Hearing loss occurs due to damage to these structures, which is not repaired. In fact, birds suffer only temporary hearing loss not because they regenerate these structures, but because they grow replacement hair cells.



    Once you start thinking about this then, it is pretty clear that many structural proteins will be conserved throughout life (if the cell they are attached to or within remains a part of the body). And many cells of the body remain in the body throughout life, so any proteins that join the cells together, say connexin proteins that form tight junctions between cells, would also presumably be conserved. I say this because I think the energetic cost of degrading a protein that spans two membranes would be too great for it to occur. I have not hear of tight junctions being eliminated, but I may be wrong.



    Mowgli's answer is nice because it involves globular rather than fibrous proteins- though Wikipedia still classifies them as structural proteins. I was interested and read this article about them. Interesting stuff! Thank you Mowgli!



    I would be interested to know if there are any conserved biochemically active proteins. I would think that extracellular proteins would probably be turned over, and the best chance of finding such a conserved protein would be within a cell that remains for life post differentiation. Perhaps a proteosome complex itself (these are the protein complexes that are involved in protein degradation)? I don;t think ribosomes are degraded either, but I don't find this a very satisfactory example!






    share|improve this answer












    I like Mowgli's answer, because it is a non-obvious example. However I would also point out that there are many, many protein-based structural components in the body that we know do not regenerate due to associated pathologies; so presumably these structural proteins are as old as from when they first arose in developemnt. Take the stereocilia on hair cells in the cochlea, for instance. The stereocilia structure is actin-filament based, so is a structural protein. Hearing loss occurs due to damage to these structures, which is not repaired. In fact, birds suffer only temporary hearing loss not because they regenerate these structures, but because they grow replacement hair cells.



    Once you start thinking about this then, it is pretty clear that many structural proteins will be conserved throughout life (if the cell they are attached to or within remains a part of the body). And many cells of the body remain in the body throughout life, so any proteins that join the cells together, say connexin proteins that form tight junctions between cells, would also presumably be conserved. I say this because I think the energetic cost of degrading a protein that spans two membranes would be too great for it to occur. I have not hear of tight junctions being eliminated, but I may be wrong.



    Mowgli's answer is nice because it involves globular rather than fibrous proteins- though Wikipedia still classifies them as structural proteins. I was interested and read this article about them. Interesting stuff! Thank you Mowgli!



    I would be interested to know if there are any conserved biochemically active proteins. I would think that extracellular proteins would probably be turned over, and the best chance of finding such a conserved protein would be within a cell that remains for life post differentiation. Perhaps a proteosome complex itself (these are the protein complexes that are involved in protein degradation)? I don;t think ribosomes are degraded either, but I don't find this a very satisfactory example!







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered yesterday









    21joanna12

    1,4931834




    1,4931834



    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.




    Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.













    • Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
      – forest
      yesterday




















    • Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
      – JalfredP
      yesterday










    • I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
      – forest
      yesterday


















    Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
    – JalfredP
    yesterday




    Thank you for expanding Mowgli's answer! I personally work with actin in vitro and I never considered the fact that there could be years-old actin in our body (we usually frow away our stocks after a week :D )
    – JalfredP
    yesterday












    I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
    – forest
    yesterday






    I would be very surprised if ribosomes were not degraded. And proteosomes do get degraded.
    – forest
    yesterday












    up vote
    5
    down vote













    A very interesting example are the cohesin molecules holding sister chromatids together in the oocytes (so only applicable to females, sorry!). Cohesion is established in utero, and these molecules are not recycled throughout life (AFAIK only shown directly for mice, not humans - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971813, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26898469, but presumably same is true for us). This is considered to be a major contributor to the maternal age effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility) through low level loss of cohesion throughout life (since levels of cohesin can't be restored) until chromosomes start losing association between sisters which causes high chances of their missegregation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536066/)






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      up vote
      5
      down vote













      A very interesting example are the cohesin molecules holding sister chromatids together in the oocytes (so only applicable to females, sorry!). Cohesion is established in utero, and these molecules are not recycled throughout life (AFAIK only shown directly for mice, not humans - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971813, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26898469, but presumably same is true for us). This is considered to be a major contributor to the maternal age effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility) through low level loss of cohesion throughout life (since levels of cohesin can't be restored) until chromosomes start losing association between sisters which causes high chances of their missegregation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536066/)






      share|improve this answer








      New contributor




      Phlya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        up vote
        5
        down vote










        up vote
        5
        down vote









        A very interesting example are the cohesin molecules holding sister chromatids together in the oocytes (so only applicable to females, sorry!). Cohesion is established in utero, and these molecules are not recycled throughout life (AFAIK only shown directly for mice, not humans - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971813, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26898469, but presumably same is true for us). This is considered to be a major contributor to the maternal age effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility) through low level loss of cohesion throughout life (since levels of cohesin can't be restored) until chromosomes start losing association between sisters which causes high chances of their missegregation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536066/)






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Phlya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        A very interesting example are the cohesin molecules holding sister chromatids together in the oocytes (so only applicable to females, sorry!). Cohesion is established in utero, and these molecules are not recycled throughout life (AFAIK only shown directly for mice, not humans - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971813, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26898469, but presumably same is true for us). This is considered to be a major contributor to the maternal age effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_female_fertility) through low level loss of cohesion throughout life (since levels of cohesin can't be restored) until chromosomes start losing association between sisters which causes high chances of their missegregation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536066/)







        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Phlya is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        share|improve this answer






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        answered 12 hours ago









        Phlya

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        1512




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