Abstract: Hibernating mammals have amazing capabilities that we, as humans, can only envy. They may spend up to 8 months of the winter in bouts of prolonged torpor with metabolic rates <5% of normal, core body temperature near 0 °C, long periods of apnea, under-perfused organs, and skeletal muscles that go unused for weeks at a time. All of these “tricks” of hibernators have direct application to multiple medical concerns including preservation of organs for transplant, pushing the use of hypothermia as a treatment option to lower and lower temperatures, enhancing ischemia resistance of organs, minimizing skeletal muscle atrophy under conditions of extended immobility, and developing inducible torpor for use in multiple clinical settings. Studies in my lab focus on the molecular regulation of hibernation exploring both torpor regulation (biochemical mechanisms that coordinate transitions to/from the torpid state and/or reprioritize energy expenditures for extended survival in torpor) and the cytoprotective adaptations that stabilize macromolecules over days/weeks of dormancy. Using ground squirrels and bats as main models, our research has produced novel insights into hibernation regulation with studies of differential gene expression, microRNA and epigenetic controls, modification of signal transduction cascades, and adaptive regulation of enzymes often by posttranslational modification. Our newest work is a unique and exciting exploration of the biochemistry of primate hibernation in a lemur – the closest phylogenetic relative to humans that exhibits natural hibernation. Torpor and hibernation in lemurs is particularly exciting because it occurs with relatively small decreases in body temperatures, thereby allowing us to probe for key mechanisms that regulate torpor (as opposed to those that accommodate low body temperature) and providing an optimal model for translational studies to utilize inducible torpor as a treatment option for humans. For more information go to: www.carleton.ca/∼kbstorey.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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