Hong Chen’s lab advancing synthetic torpor with focused ultrasound
Nature is often the best model for science. For nearly a century, scientists have been trying to recreate the ability of some mammals and birds to survive extreme environmental conditions for brief or extended periods by going into torpor, when their body temperature and metabolic rate drop, allowing them to conserve energy and heat.
Taking inspiration from nature, Hong Cheng, PhD, a professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine, and an interdisciplinary team induced a reversible torpor-like state in mice and rats by using focused ultrasound to stimulate the hypothalamus preoptic area in the brain, which helps to regulate body temperature and metabolism.
Now, the team is in pursuit of translating induced, or synthetic, torpor into potential solutions for humans, such as when there is reduced blood flow to tissues or organs, to preserve organs for transplantation or to protect from radiation during space travel.
Conventional medical interventions focus on increasing energy supply, such as restoring blood flow to the brain after a stroke. Synthetic torpor seeks to do the opposite by reducing energy demand.
“The capability of synthetic torpor to regulate whole-body metabolism promises to transform medicine by offering novel strategies for medical interventions,” Chen said in a Perspectives paper published in Nature Metabolism July 31.