The hibernating South American marsupial, Dromiciops gliroides, displays torpor-sensitive microRNA expression patterns.

ABSTRACT: When faced with adverse environmental conditions, the marsupial Dromiciops gliroides uses either daily or seasonal torpor to support survival and is the only known hibernating mammal in South America. As the sole living representative of the ancient Order Microbiotheria, this species can provide crucial information about the evolutionary origins and biochemical mechanisms of hibernation. Hibernation is a complex energy-saving strategy that involves changes in gene expression that are elicited in part by microRNAs. To better elucidate the role of microRNAs in orchestrating hypometabolism, a modified stem-loop technique and quantitative PCR were used to characterize the relative expression levels of 85 microRNAs in liver and skeletal muscle of control and torpid D. gliroides. Thirty-nine mic

SUBMITTER: Hadj-Moussa H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4835794 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature