Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gene Expression and Physiologic Extremes in Primate Hibernation

博士论文研究：灵长类冬眠中的基因表达和生理极端

• 批准号: 1455809
• 负责人: Anne Yoder
• 金额: $ 2.3万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-03-15 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1455809&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Gene; Expression

Hibernation is a seasonal response that some species use to evade energetic demands posed by their environment. Hibernation is characterized by physiologic extremes that would be fatal to non-hibernating species, yet hibernators experience these extremes on an annual basis without harmful effects. Among primates, hibernation is only observed in the dwarf lemurs of Madagascar. Previous work suggests that hibernation is activated not by a set of genes unique to hibernators, but by selective expression of genes that are present in all mammals. This view raises multiple questions, including: Are the physiological processes associated with hibernation shared among all mammalian hibernators (e.g., ground squirrels, bats, bears), or does primate hibernation represent a specialized form of this behavior? Do all mammals, including humans, have the genetic capacity for hibernation? If so, how can we use this information for critical biomedical applications, such as emergency medicine or space travel? Broader impacts also include development of new research collaborations and significant science education and public outreach efforts.Transcriptome sequencing will be used to identify and quantify genes that are differentially expressed in white adipose tissue from differing physiological states associated with hibernation in 3 dwarf lemur species: one species of captive dwarf lemur (C. medius), and two species of free-ranging dwarf lemurs in Madagascar (C. crossleyi and C. sibreei). This is the first investigation of the genetic control of hibernation in a primate and therefore, this study has implications for understanding hibernation physiology at the most fundamental level. Revealing insights into how primate hibernators successfully display physiologic extremes without morbidity or mortality will have potential applications for biomedical research, and is relevant to the fields of comparative physiology, primate behavior, and evolutionary biology.

冬眠是一种季节性的反应，一些物种利用冬眠来逃避环境对能量的需求。冬眠的特点是生理极端，这将是致命的非冬眠物种，但冬眠经历这些极端的年度基础上没有有害的影响。在灵长类动物中，只有马达加斯加的矮狐猴才能观察到冬眠。先前的研究表明，冬眠不是由冬眠动物特有的一组基因激活的，而是由存在于所有哺乳动物中的基因的选择性表达激活的。这种观点提出了多个问题，包括：与冬眠相关的生理过程是否在所有哺乳动物冬眠者中共享（例如，地松鼠，蝙蝠，熊），还是灵长类动物冬眠代表了这种行为的一种特殊形式？所有的哺乳动物，包括人类，都有冬眠的遗传能力吗？如果是这样的话，我们如何将这些信息用于关键的生物医学应用，如急救医学或太空旅行？ 更广泛的影响还包括发展新的研究合作和重要的科学教育和公共宣传努力。转录组测序将用于识别和量化基因的差异表达的白色脂肪组织从不同的生理状态与冬眠在3个侏儒狐猴物种：一个物种的圈养侏儒狐猴（C。medius）和马达加斯加岛上的两种自由活动的侏儒狐猴（C. crossleyi和C. sibreei）。这是第一次调查灵长类动物冬眠的遗传控制，因此，这项研究对了解冬眠生理学在最基本的水平。揭示灵长类冬眠动物如何成功地显示生理极端没有发病率或死亡率的见解将有潜在的应用生物医学研究，并与比较生理学，灵长类动物行为和进化生物学领域。