2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Toward understanding a common molecular basis for deep torpor and fasting-induced torpor
| Project Area | Mammalian hibernation biology ~ survival strategies via hypometabolism and hypothermia |
|---|
| Project/Area Number |
20H05766
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Review Section |
Transformative Research Areas, Section (III)
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
渡邊 正知 福山大学, 薬学部, 准教授 (30306203)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2020-10-02 – 2023-03-31
|
| Keywords | 冬眠 / 哺乳類 / 生理学 / 体温調節 |
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Hibernation in mammals is an adaptive strategy with hypometabolism and hypothermia in which thermogenesis is actively suppressed for the survival in seasons with cold and little food. Such extreme hypometabolism and hypothermia is called deep torpor and repeated during a long hibernation period. Mechanisms of hibernation and torpor remained largely unknown. Using molecular and genetic approaches, we found that the DEG1 gene, whose mRNA levels were high in multiple organs of the body during deep hibernation in the Syrian hamster, plays an important function in triggering hibernation.
|
| Free Research Field |
生理学
|
| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
本研究成果は、冬眠する哺乳類において冬眠発動に関わる遺伝子を遺伝学的手法で同定した初の事例として大きな学術的意義がある。更なる研究により、その制御機構が明らかになると期待される。また冬眠に関与する遺伝子の同定は、自然界の動物がいかにして厳しい冬季を生き抜くのかについての洞察を与え我々人間の視野を拡げる点だけでなく、将来的なヒトへの医療応用、たとえば臓器移植・救急医療・低体温療法などへの波及効果も期待される点で、社会的意義もあると言える。
|
