IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-27170-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1

Author

Listed:
  • Hang Cheng

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Rajaa Sebaa

    (University of Ottawa
    University of Ottawa
    University of Shaqra)

  • Nikita Malholtra

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Baptiste Lacoste

    (University of Ottawa
    University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute
    Neuroscience Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute)

  • Ziyad El Hankouri

    (University of Ottawa
    University of Ottawa)

  • Alexia Kirby

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Nigel C. Bennett

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Barry Jaarsveld

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Daniel W. Hart

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Glenn J. Tattersall

    (Brock University)

  • Mary-Ellen Harper

    (University of Ottawa
    University of Ottawa)

  • Matthew E. Pamenter

    (University of Ottawa
    University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute)

Abstract

Naked mole-rats are among the most hypoxia-tolerant mammals. During hypoxia, their body temperature (Tb) decreases via unknown mechanisms to conserve energy. In small mammals, non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT) is critical to Tb regulation; therefore, we hypothesize that hypoxia decreases naked mole-rat BAT thermogenesis. To test this, we measure changes in Tb during normoxia and hypoxia (7% O2; 1–3 h). We report that interscapular thermogenesis is high in normoxia but ceases during hypoxia, and Tb decreases. Furthermore, in BAT from animals treated in hypoxia, UCP1 and mitochondrial complexes I-V protein expression rapidly decrease, while mitochondria undergo fission, and apoptosis and mitophagy are inhibited. Finally, UCP1 expression decreases in hypoxia in three other social African mole-rat species, but not a solitary species. These findings suggest that the ability to rapidly down-regulate thermogenesis to conserve oxygen in hypoxia may have evolved preferentially in social species.

Suggested Citation

  • Hang Cheng & Rajaa Sebaa & Nikita Malholtra & Baptiste Lacoste & Ziyad El Hankouri & Alexia Kirby & Nigel C. Bennett & Barry Jaarsveld & Daniel W. Hart & Glenn J. Tattersall & Mary-Ellen Harper & Matt, 2021. "Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27170-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27170-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27170-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-27170-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward T. Chouchani & Lawrence Kazak & Mark P. Jedrychowski & Gina Z. Lu & Brian K. Erickson & John Szpyt & Kerry A. Pierce & Dina Laznik-Bogoslavski & Ramalingam Vetrivelan & Clary B. Clish & Alan J., 2016. "Mitochondrial ROS regulate thermogenic energy expenditure and sulfenylation of UCP1," Nature, Nature, vol. 532(7597), pages 112-116, April.
    2. Sven Enerbäck & Anders Jacobsson & Elizabeth M. Simpson & Carmen Guerra & Hitoshi Yamashita & Mary-Ellen Harper & Leslie P. Kozak, 1997. "Mice lacking mitochondrial uncoupling protein are cold-sensitive but not obese," Nature, Nature, vol. 387(6628), pages 90-94, May.
    3. Edward T. Chouchani & Lawrence Kazak & Mark P. Jedrychowski & Gina Z. Lu & Brian K. Erickson & John Szpyt & Kerry A. Pierce & Dina Laznik-Bogoslavski & Ramalingam Vetrivelan & Clary B. Clish & Alan J., 2016. "Correction: Corrigendum: Mitochondrial ROS regulate thermogenic energy expenditure and sulfenylation of UCP1," Nature, Nature, vol. 536(7616), pages 360-360, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiamin Qiu & Feng Yue & Peipei Zhu & Jingjuan Chen & Fan Xu & Lijia Zhang & Kun Ho Kim & Madigan M. Snyder & Nanjian Luo & Hao-wei Xu & Fang Huang & W. Andy Tao & Shihuan Kuang, 2023. "FAM210A is essential for cold-induced mitochondrial remodeling in brown adipocytes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27170-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.