Preservation of bone mass and structure in hibernating black bears (Ursus americanus) through elevated expression of anabolic genes.

ABSTRACT: Physical inactivity reduces mechanical load on the skeleton, which leads to losses of bone mass and strength in non-hibernating mammalian species. Although bears are largely inactive during hibernation, they show no loss in bone mass and strength. To obtain insight into molecular mechanisms preventing disuse bone loss, we conducted a large-scale screen of transcriptional changes in trabecular bone comparing winter hibernating and summer non-hibernating black bears using a custom 12,800 probe cDNA microarray. A total of 241 genes were differentially expressed (P < 0.01 and fold change >1.4) in the ilium bone of bears between winter and summer. The Gene Ontology and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis showed an elevated proportion in hibernating bears of overexpressed genes in six functional sets o

SUBMITTER: Fedorov VB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4480364 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature