Kondo N
Mitsubishi Kagaku Institute of Life Sciences, Machida, Tokyo 194-8511, Japan.
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2007;72:607-13. doi: 10.1101/sqb.2007.72.028.
Hibernation in mammals is a mysterious biological phenomenon that appears on a seasonal basis for surviving a potentially lethal low body temperature (Tb) near 0 degrees C and protecting organisms from various diseases and harmful events during hibernation. The exact mechanism by which such a unique ability is seasonally developed is still unknown. On the basis of our previous finding that the source of calcium ions for excitation-contraction coupling in myocardium of chipmunks, a rodent hibernator, is seasonally modulated for hibernation, the liver-derived hibernation-specific protein (HP) complex was discovered. Recently, the HP complex was identified as a promising candidate hormone that carries a hibernation signal to the brain independently of Tb and environmental changes for developing a capacity for tolerating low Tb. This finding will promote new approaches to understanding biological hibernation systems, including a circannual clock and its signaling pathway between the brain and the periphery. A new definition of hibernation and a possible model of a hibernation control system are proposed.
哺乳动物的冬眠是一种神秘的生物现象，它会在季节性基础上出现，以在接近0摄氏度的潜在致命低温体温（Tb）下存活，并在冬眠期间保护生物体免受各种疾病和有害事件的影响。这种独特能力季节性发展的确切机制仍然未知。基于我们之前的发现，即花栗鼠（一种啮齿类冬眠动物）心肌中兴奋 - 收缩偶联的钙离子来源会因冬眠而发生季节性调节，我们发现了肝脏衍生的冬眠特异性蛋白（HP）复合物。最近，HP复合物被确定为一种有前景的候选激素，它能独立于体温（Tb）和环境变化，将冬眠信号传递至大脑，以发展耐受低温体温（Tb）的能力。这一发现将推动理解生物冬眠系统的新方法，包括年周期生物钟及其在大脑与外周之间的信号通路。本文提出了冬眠的新定义以及冬眠控制系统的可能模型。
