Life-On-Hold: Lanthanoids Rapidly Induce a Reversible Ametabolic State in Mammalian Cells

摘要

We found that incubation with a solution containing ~50 mM neodymium (one of the rare-earth elements, REE) induces a rapid of active metabolism in mammalian cells. We have named this state REEbernation and found that the process involves a rapid replacement of calcium with neodymium in membranes and organelles of a cell, allowing it to maintain its shape and membrane integrity under extreme conditions, including vacuum. Furthermore, phosphate exchange is blocked because of non-dissolvable neodymium salts formation, which “discharged” the cell. We also showed that REEbernation is characterized by instant shutting down RNA transcriptional activity in the cells, providing an intriguing opportunity to study a snapshot of gene expression at a given time point. Finally, we found that the REEbernation state is reversible, and we could restore the metabolism and proliferation capacity of the cells. The REEbernation provides a new method to reversibly place a cell into “on-hold” mode, opening opportunities to develop protocols for biological samples fixation with a minimum effect on the omics profile for biomedical needs.