Liver Transcriptome Dynamics During Hibernation Are Shaped by a Shifting Balance Between Transcription and RNA Stability.

ABSTRACT: Hibernators dramatically lower metabolism to save energy while fasting for months. Prolonged fasting challenges metabolic homeostasis, yet small-bodied hibernators emerge each spring ready to resume all aspects of active life, including immediate reproduction. The liver is the body's metabolic hub, processing and detoxifying macromolecules to provide essential fuels to brain, muscle and other organs throughout the body. Here we quantify changes in liver gene expression across several distinct physiological states of hibernation in 13-lined ground squirrels, using RNA-seq to measure the steady-state transcriptome and GRO-seq to measure transcription for the first time in a hibernator. Our data capture key timepoints in both the seasonal and torpor-arousal cycles of hibernation. Strong posit

SUBMITTER: Gillen AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8176218 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature