Black bears hibernate for 5 to 7 months a year and, during this time, do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate. We measured metabolic rate and body temperature in hibernating black bears and found that they suppress metabolism to 25% of basal rates while regulating body temperature from 30° to 36°C, in multiday cycles. Heart rates were reduced from 55 to as few as 9 beats per minute, with profound sinus arrhythmia. After returning to normal body temperature and emerging from dens, bears maintained a reduced metabolic rate for up to 3 weeks. The pronounced reduction and delayed recovery of metabolic rate in hibernating bears suggest that the majority of metabolic suppression during hibernation is independent of lowered body temperature.

Ecologists need an empirical understanding of physiological and behavioural adjustments that animals can make in response to seasonal and long-term variations in environmental conditions. Because many species experience trade-offs between timing and duration of one seasonal event versus another and because interacting species may also shift phenologies at different rates, it is possible that, in aggregate, phenological shifts could result in mismatches that disrupt ecological communities. We investigated the timing of seasonal events over 14 years in two Arctic ground squirrel populations living 20 km apart in Northern Alaska. At Atigun River, snow melt occurred 27 days earlier and snow cover began 17 days later than at Toolik Lake. This spatial differential was reflected in significant variation in the timing of most seasonal events in ground squirrels living at the two sites. Although reproductive males ended seasonal torpor on the same date at both sites, Atigun males emerged from hibernation 9 days earlier and entered hibernation 5 days later than Toolik males. Atigun females emerged and bred 13 days earlier and entered hibernation 9 days earlier than those at Toolik. We propose that this variation in phenology over a small spatial scale is likely generated by plasticity of physiological mechanisms that may also provide individuals the ability to respond to variation in environmental conditions over time.

Although hypoxia tolerance in heterothermic mammals is well established, it is unclear whether the adaptive significance stems from hypoxia or other cellular challenge associated with euthermy, hibernation, or arousal. In the present study, blood gases, hemoglobin O 2 saturation (SO2), and indexes of cellular and physiological stress were measured during hibernation and euthermy and after arousal thermogenesis. Results show that arterial O 2 tension (PaO 2 ) and SO2 are severely diminished during arousal and that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1␣ accumulates in brain. Despite evidence of hypoxia, neither cellular nor oxidative stress, as indicated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels and oxidative modification of biomolecules, was observed during late arousal from hibernation. Compared with rats, hibernating Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) are well oxygenated with no evidence of cellular stress, inflammatory response, neuronal pathology, or oxidative modification following the period of high metabolic demand necessary for arousal. In contrast, euthermic Arctic ground squirrels experience mild, chronic hypoxia with low SO 2 and accumulation of HIF-1␣ and iNOS and demonstrate the greatest degree of cellular stress in brain. These results suggest that Arctic ground squirrels experience and tolerate endogenous hypoxia during euthermy and arousal.torpor; ischemia; stroke; Spermophilus parryii; reperfusion; inflammation; oxidative stress HIBERNATION IS A UNIQUE PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE of prolonged periods of low body temperature, metabolism, blood flow, and other physiological processes that are disrupted by brief periodic arousal episodes when animals rewarm and reperfuse metabolically active tissues (7). During arousal thermogenesis, blood flow returns to brain and other organs in a reperfusionlike manner at a time of maximal oxygen demand (42, 58). Preservation of neuronal and other cellular morphology during low cerebral blood flow demonstrates that hibernating mammals tolerate pronounced fluctuations in blood flow (16,61). Physiological and cellular stress experienced during euthermy, hibernation, and arousal is less well characterized.Arterial oxygen tension (Pa O 2 ) and tissue lactate measurements show that hibernating ground squirrels are well oxygenated (16,20), sometimes exceeding values in the euthermic state (15). In contrast, oxygen supply may become limiting during arousal thermogenesis. Increases in brain tissue lactate levels during peak oxygen consumption during arousal from hibernation in bats suggest these animals experience oxygen deficiency during arousal and reperfusion (30). However, because tissue lactate was not reported for euthermic bats, it is unclear how brain tissue hypoxia experienced during arousal compares to the euthermic state. Moreover, Pa O 2 was not measured to address the relationship between blood and tissue oxygenation during euthermy, hibernation, and arousal. To characterize physiological challenges associated with arousal thermogenesis, we evaluated b...

We conducted a large-scale gene expression screen using the 3,200 cDNA probe microarray developed specifically for Ursus americanus to detect expression differences in liver and skeletal muscle that occur during winter hibernation compared with animals sampled during summer. The expression of 12 genes, including RNA binding protein motif 3 (Rbm3), that are mostly involved in protein biosynthesis, was induced during hibernation in both liver and muscle. The Gene Ontology and Gene Set Enrichment analysis consistently showed a highly significant enrichment of the protein biosynthesis category by overexpressed genes in both liver and skeletal muscle during hibernation. Coordinated induction in transcriptional level of genes involved in protein biosynthesis is a distinctive feature of the transcriptome in hibernating black bears. This finding implies induction of translation and suggests an adaptive mechanism that contributes to a unique ability to reduce muscle atrophy over prolonged periods of immobility during hibernation. Comparing expression profiles in bears to small mammalian hibernators shows a general trend during hibernation of transcriptional changes that include induction of genes involved in lipid metabolism and carbohydrate synthesis as well as depression of genes involved in the urea cycle and detoxification function in liver. gene expression; hibernation; translation; RNA binding protein motif 3 MAMMALIAN HIBERNATION IS a physiological and behavioral adaptation involving a coordinated suppression of heat production and body temperature wherein whole body metabolism and energy demand are significantly reduced over several days to several months. During hibernation, heart and respiration rates, blood flow, and oxygen consumption decrease dramatically to Ͻ10% of normal or basal rates (2, 4). These physiological changes do not represent a loss of homeostasis but instead are precisely controlled and spontaneously reversible, and they allow individual animals to survive highly seasonal or unpredictable environments where food availability becomes lacking (7, 12). The molecular and genetic basis of hibernation in small mammals has only recently begun to be described, and little is known about its evolutionary history. Hibernating species have been found in diverse families among seven orders of mammals (26), however, and the interspersed phylogenetic distribution of hibernating and nonhibernating species has led to the hypothesis that rather than requiring the creation of novel gene products, hibernation results from the differential expression of genes that exist widely among mammals (35).Microarray technology provides powerful means for the unbiased detection of differences in expression of thousands of genes in a single hybridization experiment (14). In contrast to single-gene expression analysis, the genome-wide approach also allows for identification of coordinated transcriptional changes in functional groups of regulatory genes within metabolic and signaling pathways. Recent studies of differential gen...

Torpor in hibernating mammals defines the nadir in mammalian metabolic demand and body temperature that accommodates seasonal periods of reduced energy availability. The mechanism of metabolic suppression during torpor onset is unknown although the central nervous system (CNS) is a key regulator of torpor. Seasonal hibernators such as the arctic ground squirrel (AGS) display torpor only during the winter, hibernation season. The seasonal character of hibernation thus provides a clue to its regulation. In the present study we delivered adenosine receptor agonists and antagonists into the lateral ventricle of AGS at different times of the year while monitoring the rate of O2 consumption and core body temperature as indicators of torpor. The A1 antagonist, cyclopentyltheophylline (CPT) reversed spontaneous entrance into torpor. The adenosine A1 receptor agonist, N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) induced torpor in 6 out of 6 AGS tested during the mid-hibernation season, 2 out of 6 AGS tested early in the hibernation season and none of the 6 AGS tested during the summer, off-season. CHA-induced torpor within the hibernation season was specific to A1AR activation; the A3AR agonist 2-Cl-IB MECA failed to induce torpor and the A2aR antagonist MSX-3, failed to reverse spontaneous onset of torpor. CHA-induced torpor was similar to spontaneous entrance into torpor. These results show that metabolic suppression during torpor onset is regulated within the CNS via A1AR activation and requires a seasonal switch in the sensitivity of purinergic signaling.

During hibernation in Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii), O(2) consumption and plasma leukocyte counts decrease by >90%, whereas plasma concentrations of the antioxidant ascorbate increase fourfold. During rewarming, O(2) consumption increases profoundly and plasma ascorbate and leukocyte counts return to normal. Here we investigated the dynamic interrelationships among these changes. Plasma ascorbate and uric acid (urate) concentrations were determined by HPLC from blood samples collected at approximately 15-min intervals via arterial catheter; leukocyte count and hematocrit were also determined. Body temperature, O(2) consumption, and electromyographic activity were recorded continuously. Ascorbate, urate, and glutathione contents in body and brain samples were determined during hibernation and after arousal. During rewarming, the maximum rate of plasma ascorbate decrease occurred at the time of peak O(2) consumption and peak plasma urate production. The ascorbate decrease did not correlate with mouth or abdominal temperature; uptake into leukocytes could account for only a small percentage. By contrast, liver and spleen ascorbate levels increased significantly after arousal, which could more than account for ascorbate clearance from plasma. Brain ascorbate levels remained constant. These data suggest that elevated concentrations of ascorbate [(Asc)] in plasma [(Asc)(p)] provide an antioxidant source that is redistributed to tissues during the metabolic stress that accompanies arousal.

Abnormal phosphorylation and aggregation of tau protein are hallmarks of a variety of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Increased tau phosphorylation is assumed to represent an early event in pathogenesis and a pivotal aspect for aggregation and formation of neurofibrillary tangles. However, the regulation of tau phosphorylation in vivo and the causes for its increased stage of phosphorylation in AD are still not well understood, a fact that is primarily based on the lack of adequate animal models. Recently we described the reversible formation of highly phosphorylated tau protein in hibernating European ground squirrels. Hence, mammalian hibernation represents a model system very well suited to study molecular mechanisms of both tau phosphorylation and dephosphorylation under in vivo physiological conditions. Here, we analysed the extent and kinetics of hibernation-state dependent tau phosphorylation in various brain regions of three species of hibernating mammals: arctic ground squirrels, Syrian hamsters and black bears. Overall, tau protein was highly phosphorylated in torpor states and phosphorylation levels decreased after arousal in all species. Differences between brain regions, hibernation-states and phosphosites were observed with respect to degree and kinetics of tau phosphorylation. Furthermore, we tested the phosphate net turnover of tau protein to analyse potential alterations in kinase and/or phosphatase activities during hibernation. Our results demonstrate that the hibernation-state dependent phosphorylation of tau protein is specifically regulated but involves, in addition, passive, temperature driven regulatory mechanisms. By determining the activity-state profile for key enzymes of tau phosphorylation we could identify kinases potentially involved in the differentially regulated, reversible tau phosphorylation that occurs during hibernation. We show that in black bears hibernation is associated with conformational changes of highly phosphorylated tau protein that are typically related to neuropathological alterations. The particular hibernation characteristics of black bears with a continuous torpor period and an only slightly decreased body temperature, therefore, potentially reflects the limitations of this adaptive reaction pattern and, thus, might indicate a transitional state of a physiological process.

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