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Full-Text Articles in Physiology

Regulation Of Liver Mitochondrial Metabolism During Hibernation By Post-Translational Modification, Katherine E. Mathers Dec 2017

Regulation Of Liver Mitochondrial Metabolism During Hibernation By Post-Translational Modification, Katherine E. Mathers

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Hibernation, characterized by a seasonal reduction in metabolism and body temperature, allows animals to conserve energy when environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, food availability) are unfavourable. During hibernation, small mammals such as the 13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) cycle between two distinct metabolic states: torpor, where metabolic rate is suppressed by >95% and body temperature falls to ~5 °C, and interbout euthermia (IBE), where metabolic rate and body temperature rapidly increase and are maintained at euthermic levels several hours. Suppression of metabolism during entrance into torpor is paralleled by rapid suppression of liver mitochondrial metabolism. In my thesis, I …


Temperature-Dependent Alterations Of Brown Adipose Tissue Metabolism During Hibernation In The Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel, Ictidomys Tridecemlineatus., Sarah V. Mcfarlane Jul 2016

Temperature-Dependent Alterations Of Brown Adipose Tissue Metabolism During Hibernation In The Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel, Ictidomys Tridecemlineatus., Sarah V. Mcfarlane

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is the major thermogenic tissue in small eutherian mammals. In hibernators, seasonal modifications of BAT are well documented but little is known about its functional regulation during hibernation. BAT metabolism is activated by sympathetic stimulation, so I hypothesized that further regulation at the mitochondrial level, as seen in other hibernator tissues, would be of little advantage. Contrary to my predictions, respiration rates of BAT mitochondria isolated from torpid thirteen-lined ground squirrels were suppressed by up to 62% compared with rates from individuals that aroused to interbout euthermia (IBE), when measured at 37°C. At 10°C, however, these …