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Research Progress

PICB Study Identified Global Protein Expression Changes during Animal Hibernation

Dec 14, 2009

Animal hibernation is a marvel in biology. Under the extreme conditions, hibernators evolved amazing abilities to survive with near zero degree body temperature and close to 1% of normal heart, respiration, and metabolic rates. More intriguingly, most of hibernators periodically arouse during hibernation.

It is now known that hibernators undergo metabolic reorganizations and activate the tissue protection mechanisms during hibernation. But the exact molecular mechanisms are still unknown.

Collaborating with ZENG Rong’s group in Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS) and Brian Barnes’ group in University of Alaska, USA, YAN Jun’s group in CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, SIBS, CAS (PICB) systematically investigated the global protein expression changes during the hibernation of Arctic ground squirrel.

In this study, researchers constructed a ground squirrel protein database using computational methods. They further analyzed the protein expression in hibernating ground squirrels using high-throughput label-free LC-MS/MS.

In total, researchers identified more than 3000 proteins, among which 517 showed significant expression changes. These included many proteins important in glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism, and tissue protection.

Furthermore, the researchers observed that, during spontaneous arousal, proteins involved in protein turnover, mRNA processing, and protein phosphorylation were significantly differentially expressed, while their mRNA levels showed no such changes indicating substantial post-transcriptional regulations.

Many human diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and stroke were caused by stresses similar to those hibernators experience. YAN’s group is now hoping to use hibernation as a model to learn how nature has solved these problems.

This study was supported by Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai Municipal government, and Natural Science Foundation of USA.

The study was published online on Nov. 20th in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

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