Temperature regulates limb length in homeotherms by directly modulating cartilage growth.

ABSTRACT: Allen's Rule documents a century-old biological observation that strong positive correlations exist among latitude, ambient temperature, and limb length in mammals. Although genetic selection for thermoregulatory adaptation is frequently presumed to be the primary basis of this phenomenon, important but frequently overlooked research has shown that appendage outgrowth is also markedly influenced by environmental temperature. Alteration of limb blood flow via vasoconstriction/vasodilation is the current default hypothesis for this growth plasticity, but here we show that tissue perfusion does not fully account for differences in extremity elongation in mice. We show that peripheral tissue temperature closely reflects housing temperature in vivo, and we demonstrate that chondrocyte prolifera

SUBMITTER: Serrat MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2614764 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature