Red Sea Research Centre and Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Bioscience and Environmental Science and Technology Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 16;8:543322. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.543322. eCollection 2020.
Uniform CO during human evolution (180 to 280 ppm) resulted, because of the role of the CO-bicarbonate buffer in regulating pH, in rather constant pH (7.35 to 7.45) in human fluids, cells and tissues, determining, in turn, the narrow pH range for optimal functioning of the human proteome. Herein, we hypothesize that chronic exposure to elevated CO with increasing atmospheric CO (>400 ppm), and extended time spent in confined, crowded indoor atmospheres (CO up to 5,000 ppm) with urban lifestyles, may be an important, largely overlooked driver of change in human proteome performance. The reduced pH (downregulated from 0.1 to 0.4 units below the optimum pH) of extant humans chronically exposed to elevated CO is likely to lead to proteome malfunction. This malfunction is due to protein misfolding, aggregation, charge distribution, and altered interaction with other molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, metals, proteins, and drugs). Such alterations would have systemic effects that help explain the prevalence of syndromes (obesity, diabetes, respiratory diseases, osteoporosis, cancer, and neurological disorders) characteristic of the modern lifestyle. Chronic exposure to elevated CO poses risks to human health that are too serious to be ignored and require testing with fit-for-purpose equipment and protocols along with indoor carbon capture technologies to bring CO levels down to approach levels (180-280 ppm) under which the human proteome evolved.
在人类进化过程中，由于 CO-碳酸氢盐缓冲作用对 pH 值的调节作用，CO 浓度保持在 180 至 280ppm 之间，从而使人体液体、细胞和组织的 pH 值相当稳定（7.35 至 7.45），这反过来又确定了人类蛋白质组发挥最佳功能的狭窄 pH 范围。在此，我们假设，长期暴露于不断升高的 CO 中（大气 CO 浓度超过 400ppm），以及长期处于封闭、拥挤的室内环境（CO 浓度高达 5000ppm）中，这种情况在城市生活方式中较为常见，可能是导致人类蛋白质组性能发生变化的一个重要而又被广泛忽视的因素。与正常 pH 值相比，长期暴露于高浓度 CO 环境中的现存人类的 pH 值会降低（低 0.1 至 0.4 个单位），这很可能导致蛋白质组功能失调。这种功能失调是由于蛋白质错误折叠、聚集、电荷分布以及与其他分子（如核酸、金属、蛋白质和药物）相互作用的改变所致。这些改变会产生全身性影响，有助于解释现代生活方式下肥胖症、糖尿病、呼吸道疾病、骨质疏松症、癌症和神经紊乱等综合征普遍存在的原因。长期暴露于高浓度 CO 会对人类健康构成严重威胁，不容忽视，需要使用合适的设备和方案进行测试，并采用室内碳捕获技术，将 CO 水平降低到接近人类蛋白质组进化时的水平（180-280ppm）。
