A food-storing facultative hibernator Syrian hamster as a model animal to comprehend the mysteries of mammalian hibernation from genetic and physiological aspects

 

Yoshifumi Yamaguchi

Hibernation metabolism, physiology, and development group, Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Japan.

 

Hibernation is an adaptive strategy that allows animals to persist in environments with seasonal or unpredictable decreases in food availability. Despite long history of hibernation research, little is known about the genetic and molecular mechanisms of mammalian hibernation. This is possibly due to the limitation that few appropriate experimental methodologies are available to provide empirical evidence for the causal relationship between factors (genes, molecules, and neural circuits) and phenomena. However, the situation has been changed by recent technical advances in the experimental biology field. We are studying mechanisms of hibernation in the Syrian hamster, a food-storing facultative hibernator that can hibernate when exposed to a prolonged winter-like short-day photoperiod and cold ambient temperature in a laboratory environment. In this seminar, I will briefly summarize the background of mammalian hibernation and talk about our recent approaches to the mysteries of mammalian hibernation, including seasonal body remodeling and cold tolerance, from genetic and physiological aspects.

 

References

Decreases in body temperature and body mass constitute pre-hibernationremodelling in the Syrian golden hamster, a facultative mammalian hibernator.

Chayama Y, Ando L, Tamura Y, Miura M, Yamaguchi Y. R Soc Open Sci. 2016 Apr 13;3(4):160002. doi: 10.1098/rsos.160002.

 

Molecular Basis of White Adipose Tissue Remodeling That Precedes and Coincides With Hibernation in the Syrian Hamster, a Food-Storing Hibernator.

Chayama Y, Ando L, Sato Y, Shigenobu S, Anegawa D, Fujimoto T, Taii H, Tamura Y, Miura M, Yamaguchi Y. Front Physiol. 2019 Jan 28;9:1973. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01973.

 

Hepatic resistance to cold ferroptosis in a mammalian hibernator Syrian hamster depends on effective storage of diet-derived alpha-tocopherol.

Anegawa D, Sugiura Y, Matsuoka Y, Sone M, Shichiri M, Otsuka R, Ishida N, Yamada KI, Suematsu M, Miura M, Yamaguchi Y. Commun Biol. 2021 Jun 25;4(1):796. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02297-6.

 

Generalized harmonic analysis reveals a frequency modulated timer regulates mammalian hibernation. Gibo S, Yamaguchi Y, Kurosawa G. bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2021.11.12.468369.