Torpor during hibernation defines the nadir of mammalian metabolism where whole animal rates of metabolism are decreased to as low as 2% of basal metabolic rate. This capacity to decrease profoundly the metabolic demand of organs and tissues has the potential to translate into novel therapies for the treatment of ischemia associated with stroke, cardiac arrest or trauma where delivery of oxygen and nutrients fails to meet demand. If metabolic demand could be arrested in a regulated way, cell and tissue injury could be attenuated. Metabolic suppression achieved during hibernation is regulated, in part, by the central nervous system through indirect and possibly direct means. In this study, we review recent evidence for mechanisms of central nervous system control of torpor in hibernating rodents including evidence of a permissive, hibernation protein complex, a role for A1 adenosine receptors, mu opiate receptors, glutamate and thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Central sites for regulation of torpor include the hippocampus, hypothalamus and nuclei of the autonomic nervous system. In addition, we discuss evidence that hibernation phenotypes can be translated to non-hibernating species by H 2 S and 3-iodothyronamine with the caveat that the hypothermia, bradycardia, and metabolic suppression induced by these compounds may or may not be identical to mechanisms employed in true hibernation. Keywords metabolic arrest; metabolic suppression; suspended animationHibernating animals display a variety of adaptations that protect the central nervous system from metabolic challenges and trauma that are injurious in non-hibernating species. These adaptations include profound decreases in brain and body temperature (T b ) and immune function, enhanced antioxidant defenses, and metabolic suppression Zhou et al. 2001; Ross et al. 2006). Metabolic suppression, a regulated and reversible reduction in cellular and tissue need for oxygen and nutrients, matches metabolic demand with supply and is one of the most novel yet least well-understood neuroprotective aspects of hibernation. Knowledge of mechanisms used by hibernating animals to decrease metabolic demand to as low as 2% of basal metabolic rate or 0.01 mL O 2 /g/h

The immune system is composed of two subsystems—the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system. The innate immune system is the first to respond to pathogens and does not retain memory of previous responses. Innate immune responses are evolutionarily older than adaptive responses and elements of innate immunity can be found in all multicellular organisms. If a pathogen persists, the adaptive immune system will engage the pathogen with specificity and memory. Several components of the adaptive system including immunoglobulins (Igs), T cell receptors (TCR), and major histocompatibility complex (MHC), are assumed to have arisen in the first jawed vertebrates—the Gnathostomata. This review will discuss and compare components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems in Gnathostomes, particularly in Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) and in Osteichthyes [bony fish: the Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) and the Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)]. While many elements of both the innate and adaptive immune systems are conserved within these species and with higher level vertebrates, some elements have marked differences. Components of the innate immune system covered here include physical barriers, such as the skin and gastrointestinal tract, cellular components, such as pattern recognition receptors and immune cells including macrophages and neutrophils, and humoral components, such as the complement system. Components of the adaptive system covered include the fundamental cells and molecules of adaptive immunity: B lymphocytes (B cells), T lymphocytes (T cells), immunoglobulins (Igs), and major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Comparative studies in fish such as those discussed here are essential for developing a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the immune system.

Mammals that hibernate experience extreme metabolic states and body temperatures as they transition between euthermia, a state resembling typical warm blooded mammals, and prolonged torpor, a state of suspended animation where the brain receives as low as 10% of normal cerebral blood flow. Transitions into and out of torpor are more physiologically challenging than the extreme metabolic suppression and cold body temperatures of torpor per se. Mammals that hibernate show unprecedented capacities to tolerate cerebral ischemia, a decrease in blood flow to the brain caused by stroke, cardiac arrest or brain trauma. While cerebral ischemia often leads to death or disability in humans and most other mammals, hibernating mammals suffer no ill effects when blood flow to the brain is dramatically decreased during torpor or experimentally induced during euthermia. These animals, as adults, also display rapid and pronounced synaptic flexibility where synapses retract during torpor and rapidly re-emerge upon arousal. A variety of coordinated adaptations contribute to tolerance of cerebral ischemia in these animals. In this review we discuss adaptations in heterothermic mammals that may suggest novel therapeutic targets and strategies to protect the human brain against cerebral ischemic damage and neurodegenerative disease.

Hibernating Arctic ground squirrel (hAGS), Spermophilus parryii, survive profound decreases in cerebral perfusion during torpor and return to normal blood flow during intermittent rewarming periods without neurologic damage. Hibernating AGS tolerate traumatic brain injury in vivo, and acute hippocampal slices from hibernating animals tolerate oxygen and glucose deprivation. It remains unclear, however, if neuroprotection results from intrinsic tissue properties or from differences in response to acute trauma associated with slice preparation. The goal of this work was therefore to determine whether an intrinsic tissue tolerance persists in chronic culture of AGS hippocampal slices at 371C. A second goal was to address N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor involvement and channel arrest as potential mechanisms of intrinsic tissue tolerance. Baseline neuronal survival and tolerance to oxygen and nutrient deprivation (OND), an in vitro model of ischemia-reperfusion, were assessed in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices from juvenile, hAGS and interbout euthermic AGS (ibeAGS). Early in culture (insult onset at 3 h), slices from both hAGS and ibeAGS tolerate OND (4 h deprivation followed by 20 h recovery) and 500 lmol/L NMDA plus 20 mmol/L KCl. Later in culture (insult onset at 24 h), tolerance persists in slices from hAGS but not in slices from ibeAGS. Ouabain (Na + K + ATPase inhibitor) administered 24 h in culture enhances survival of slices from hAGS (assessed 24 h later). Thus, tolerance to OND in slices from hAGS is due to intrinsic tissue properties likely involving NMDA receptors and ion channel arrest.

Oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) initiates a cascade of intracellular responses that culminates in cell death in sensitive species. Neurons from Arctic ground squirrels (AGS), a hibernating species, tolerate OGD in vitro and global ischemia in vivo independent of temperature or torpor. Regulation of energy stores and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways can regulate neuronal survival. We used acute hippocampal slices to investigate the role of ATP stores and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase (JNK) MAPKs in promoting survival. Acute hippocampal slices from AGS tolerated 30 mins of OGD and showed a small but significant increase in cell death with 2 h OGD at 371C. This tolerance is independent of hibernation state or season. Neurons from AGS survive OGD despite rapid ATP depletion by 3 mins in interbout euthermic AGS and 10 mins in hibernating AGS. Oxygen-glucose deprivation does not induce JNK activation in AGS and baseline ERK1/2 and JNK activation is maintained even after drastic depletion of ATP. Surprisingly, inhibition of ERK1/2 or JNK during OGD had no effect on survival, whereas inhibition of JNK increased cell death during normoxia. Thus, protective mechanisms promoting tolerance to OGD by AGS are downstream from ATP loss and are independent of hibernation state or season.

2-Oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (Ogdh) is an important mitochondria redox sensor that can undergo S-glutathionylation following an increase in H2O2 levels. Although S-glutathionylation is required to protect Ogdh from irreversible oxidation while simultaneously modulating its activity it remains unknown if glutathione can also modulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by the complex. We report that reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione control O2∙-/H2O2 formation by Ogdh through protein S-glutathionylation reactions. GSSG (1 mM) induced a modest decrease in Ogdh activity which was associated with a significant decrease in O2∙-/H2O2 formation. GSH had the opposite effect, amplifying O2∙-/H2O2 formation by Ogdh. Incubation of purified Ogdh in 2.5 mM GSH led to significant increase in O2∙-/H2O2 formation which also lowered NADH production. Inclusion of enzymatically active glutaredoxin-2 (Grx2) in reaction mixtures reversed the GSH-mediated amplification of O2∙-/H2O2 formation. Similarly pre-incubation of permeabilized liver mitochondria from mouse depleted of GSH showed an approximately ~3.5-fold increase in Ogdh-mediated O2∙-/H2O2 production that was matched by a significant decrease in NADH formation which could be reversed by Grx2. Taken together, our results demonstrate GSH and GSSG modulate ROS production by Ogdh through S-glutathionylation of different subunits. This is also the first demonstration that GSH can work in the opposite direction in mitochondria-amplifying ROS formation instead of quenching it. We propose that this regulatory mechanism is required to modulate ROS emission from Ogdh in response to variations in glutathione redox buffering capacity.

β-Catenin is a transcriptional activator that is regulated by glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). GSK-3 is constitutively active in unstimulated cells where it phosphorylates β-catenin, targeting β-catenin for rapid degradation. Receptor-induced inhibition of GSK-3 allows β-catenin to accumulate in the cytoplasm and then translocate to the nucleus where it promotes the transcription of genes such as c-myc and cyclin D1. Wnt hormones, the best known regulators of β-catenin, inhibit GSK-3 via the Disheveled protein. However, GSK-3 is also inhibited when it is phosphorylated by Akt, a downstream target of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). We have previously shown that B cell Ag receptor (BCR) signaling leads to activation of PI3K and Akt as well as inhibition of GSK-3. Therefore, we hypothesized that BCR engagement would induce the accumulation of β-catenin via a PI3K/Akt/GSK-3 pathway. We now show that BCR ligation causes an increase in the level of β-catenin in the nuclear fraction of B cells as well as an increase in β-catenin-dependent transcription. Direct inhibition of GSK-3 by LiCl also increased β-catenin levels in B cells. This suggests that GSK-3 keeps β-catenin levels low in unstimulated B cells and that BCR-induced inhibition of GSK-3 allows the accumulation of β-catenin. Surprisingly, we found that the BCR-induced phosphorylation of GSK-3 on its negative regulatory sites, as well as the subsequent up-regulation of β-catenin, was not mediated by Akt but by the phospholipase C-dependent activation of protein kinase C. Thus, the BCR regulates β-catenin levels via a phospholipase C/protein kinase C/GSK-3 pathway.

The cellular antiviral state mediated by type I interferon (IFN) is the most important host defense mechanism occurring at the early stage of virus infection (15,42,45). IFN binds to the IFN-␣ receptor (IFNAR), which consists of two subunits, IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 (34). The binding of IFN leads to the heterodimerization of the two subunits and the subsequent phosphorylation of two tyrosine kinases, Janus kinase 1 (Jak1) and tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2), which are associated with the intracellular domains of the IFNAR (42, 43). Phosphorylated Jak1 and Tyk2, in turn, phosphorylate signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT2, which are downstream transcriptional factors located in the cytoplasm (9). Once phosphorylated, STAT1 and STAT2 form a trimeric complex with the DNA binding protein, IFN regulatory factor 9, termed IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3) (20,27). ISGF3 then translocates to the nucleus, where it binds to specific promoter elements of IFN-inducible genes (the IFNstimulated response element) and induces the expression of hundreds of IFN-inducible genes that have antiviral and immunoregulatory functions (10,14). However, IFN does not always induce the antiviral response effectively. The efficacy of IFN can be limited by anti-IFN proteins encoded in viral genomes or by host cellular suppressors regulating IFN signaling (24,28,50). Even IFN-sensitive viruses (not armed with anti-