We compared maximal cold-induced heat production (HPmax) and cold limits between warm (WA; 27°C), moderate cold (MCA; 18°C), or cold acclimated (CA; 5°C) wild-type and uncoupling-protein 1 knockout (UCP1-KO) mice. In wild-type mice, HPmax was successively increased after MCA and CA, and the cold limit was lowered to -8.3°C and -18.0°C, respectively. UCP1-KO mice also increased HPmax in response to MCA and CA, although to a lesser extent. Direct comparison revealed a maximal cold-induced recruitment of heat production by +473 mW and +227 mW in wild-type and UCP1-KO mice, respectively. The increase in cold tolerance of UCP1-KO mice from -0.9°C in MCA to -10.1°C in CA could not be directly related to changes in HPmax, indicating that UCP1-KO mice used the dissipated heat more efficiently than wild-type mice. As judged from respiratory quotients, acutely cold-challenged UCP1-KO mice showed a delayed transition toward lipid oxidation, and 5-h cold exposure revealed diminished physical activity and less variability in the control of metabolic rate. We conclude that BAT is required for maximal adaptive thermogenesis but also allows metabolic flexibility and a rapid switch toward sustained lipid-fuelled thermogenesis as an acute response to cold. In both CA groups, expression of contractile proteins (myosin heavy-chain isoforms) showed minor training effects in skeletal muscles, while cardiac muscle of UCP1-KO mice had novel expression of beta cardiac isoform. Neither respiration nor basal proton conductance of skeletal muscle mitochondria were different between genotypes. In subcutaneous white adipose tissue of UCP1-KO mice, cold exposure increased cytochrome-c oxidase activity and expression of the cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector A by 3.6-fold and 15-fold, respectively, indicating the recruitment of mitochondria-rich brown adipocyte-like cells. Absence of functional BAT leads to remodeling of white adipose tissue, which may significantly contribute to adaptive thermogenesis during cold acclimation.

Oxygen consumption by carnivorous reptiles increases enormously after they have eaten a large meal in order to meet metabolic demands, and this places an extra load on the cardiovascular system. Here we show that there is an extraordinarily rapid 40% increase in ventricular muscle mass in Burmese pythons (Python molurus) a mere 48 hours after feeding, which results from increased gene expression of muscle-contractile proteins. As this fully reversible hypertrophy occurs naturally, it could provide a useful model for investigating the mechanisms that lead to cardiac growth in other animals.

During hibernation, ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis) show unusually altered expression of skeletal muscle myosin heavy-chains. Some muscle groups show transitions from fast to slower myosin isoforms despite atrophy, which are not predicted from other mammalian studies of inactivity. We measure myosin protein and mRNA expression, and the mRNA expression of genes important in atrophy and metabolism in a time-course of muscle plasticity prior to, and during extended hibernation. We also investigate the role of strictly low-temperature processes by comparing torpid individuals at 20 and 4°C. Shifts in myosin isoform expression happen at both temperatures, before the onset of torpor, or within the first month of torpor, in all muscles demonstrating isoform remodeling. Skeletal muscle atrophy is greatly attenuated in this hibernating species, and even may be absent in some muscles. When present, atrophy develops early in hibernation, and does not progress in the final 3 months of torpor. Myostatin mRNA is down-regulated 50-75% in the soleus and diaphragm, two important muscles that are spared of atrophy. The transcription factor FOXO1, which spurs proteolytic degradation of contractile proteins through regulation of the ubiquitin ligase MAFbx, is also generally down-regulated, and may contribute to reduced atrophy. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α) mRNA expression was reduced 50% in some muscles, while elevated more than 300% in others. Our collective findings most strongly support early, seasonal, phenotype changes in skeletal muscles which are not uniquely confined to, or prompted by, torpor at 4°C. Such seasonal control of myosin would be a novel mechanism in mammalian skeletal muscle, which otherwise is most susceptible to mechanical loading and limb-activity patterns.

Hibernating mammals present many unexplored opportunities for the study of muscle biology. The hindlimb muscles of a small rodent hibernator (Spermophilus lateralis) atrophy slightly during months of torpor, representing a reduction in the disuse atrophy commonly seen in other mammalian models. How torpor affects contractile protein expression is unclear; therefore, we examined the myosin heavy-chain (MHC) isoform profile of ground squirrel skeletal muscle before and after hibernation. Immunoblotting was performed first to identify the MHC isoforms expressed in this species. Relative percentages of MHC isoforms in individual muscles were then measured using SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). The soleus and diaphragm did not display differences in isoforms following hibernation, but we found minor fast-to-slow isoform shifts in MHC protein in the gastrocnemius and plantaris. These subtle changes are contrary to those predicted by other models of inactivity but may reflect the requirement for shivering thermogenesis during arousals from torpor. We also measured mRNA expression of the Muscle Atrophy F-box (MAFbx), a ubiquitin ligase important in proteasome-mediated proteolysis. Expression was elevated in the hibernating gastrocnemius and the plantaris but was not associated with atrophy. Skeletal muscle from hibernators displays unusual plasticity, which may be a combined result of the intense activity during arousals and the reduction of metabolism during torpor.

Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an endogenous lipid mediator that inhibits feeding in rats and mice by activating the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha). In rodents, intestinal OEA levels increase about threefold upon refeeding, a response that may contribute to the induction of between-meal satiety. Here, we examined whether feeding-induced OEA mobilization also occurs in Burmese pythons (Python molurus), a species of ambush-hunting snakes that consume huge meals after months of fasting and undergo massive feeding-dependent changes in gastrointestinal hormonal release and gut morphology. Using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), we measured OEA levels in the gastrointestinal tract of fasted (28 days) and fed (48 h after feeding) pythons. We observed a nearly 300-fold increase in OEA levels in the small intestine of fed compared with fasted animals (322 +/- 121 vs. 1 +/- 1 pmol/mg protein, n = 3-4). In situ OEA biosynthesis was suggested by the concomitant increase of N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine species that serve as potential biosynthetic precursors for OEA. Furthermore, we observed a concomitant increase in saturated, mono- and diunsaturated, but not polyunsaturated fatty-acid ethanolamides (FAE) in the small intestine of fed pythons. The identification of OEA and other FAEs in the gastrointestinal tract of Python molurus suggests that this class of lipid messengers may be widespread among vertebrate groups and may represent an evolutionarily ancient means of regulating energy intake.

Hibernating mammals have the remarkable ability to withstand long periods of fasting and reduced activity with dramatic maintenance of skeletal muscle function and protein composition. We investigated several hindlimb muscles of white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus) and black bears (Ursus americanus), two very different hibernators who are dormant and fasting during winter. The black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) remains active during winter, but suffers minor skeletal muscle atrophy; nevertheless, they also demonstrate apparent skeletal muscle adaptations. Using SDS-PAGE, we measured myosin protein isoform profiles before and after the hibernation season. All species maintained or increased levels of slow myosin, despite the collective physiological challenges of hypophagia and reduced activity. This contrasts markedly with standard mammalian models of skeletal muscle inactivity and atrophy predicting significant loss of slow myosin. A mechanism for changes in myosin isoforms was investigated using reverse-transcription PCR, following partial sequencing of the adult MHC isoforms in C. leucurus and U. americanus. However, mRNA expression was not well correlated with changes in MHC protein isoforms, and other synthesis and degradation pathways may be involved besides transcriptional control. The muscles of hibernating mammals demonstrate surprising and varied physiological responses to inactivity and atrophy with respect to slow MHC expression.

No abstract

SUMMARYDeep hibernators such as golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis) have multiple challenges to cardiac function during low temperature torpor and subsequent arousals. As heart rates fall from over 300 beats min -1 to less than 10, chamber dilation and reduced cardiac output could lead to congestive myopathy. We performed echocardiography on a cohort of individuals prior to and after several months of hibernation. The left ventricular chamber exhibited eccentric and concentric hypertrophy during hibernation and thus calculated ventricular mass was ~30% greater. Ventricular ejection fraction was mildly reduced during hibernation but stroke volumes were greater due to the eccentric hypertrophy and dramatically increased diastolic filling volumes. Globally, the systolic phase in hibernation was ~9.5 times longer, and the diastolic phase was 28× longer. Left atrial ejection generally was not observed during hibernation. Atrial ejection returned weakly during early arousal. Strain echocardiography assessed the velocity and total movement distance of contraction and relaxation for regional ventricular segments in active and early arousal states. Myocardial systolic strain during early arousal was significantly greater than the active state, indicating greater total contractile movement. This mirrored the increased ventricular ejection fraction noted with early arousal. However, strain rates were slower during early arousal than during the active period, particularly systolic strain, which was 33% of active, compared with the rate of diastolic strain, which was 67% of active. As heart rate rose during the arousal period, myocardial velocities and strain rates also increased; this was matched closely by cardiac output. Curiously, though heart rates were only 26% of active heart rates during early arousal, the cardiac output was nearly 40% of the active state, suggesting an efficient pumping system. We further analyzed proportions of cardiac myosin heavy-chain (MyHC) isoforms in a separate cohort of squirrels over 5 months, including time points before hibernation, during hibernation and just prior to emergence. Hibernating individuals were maintained in both a 4°C cold room and a 20°C warm room. Measured by SDS-PAGE, relative percentages of cardiac MyHC alpha were increased during hibernation, at both hibernacula temperatures. A potential increase in contractile speed, and power, from more abundant MyHC alpha may aid force generation at low temperature and at low heart rates. Unlike many models of cardiomyopathies where the alpha isoform is replaced by the beta isoform in order to reduce oxygen consumption, ground squirrels demonstrate a potential cardioprotective mechanism to maintain cardiac output during torpor. Received 25 March 2013; Accepted 4 September 2013Key words: hibernation, MyHC, echocardiogram, atrial contraction, cardiac function. Echocardiogram and myosin of hibernatorsThe myosin heavy-chain isoforms (MyHC) are crucial determinants of contractile performance in cardiac muscle t...