Ferritin-mediated iron detoxification promotes hypothermia survival in Caenorhabditis elegans and murine neurons.

ABSTRACT: How animals rewire cellular programs to survive cold is a fascinating problem with potential biomedical implications, ranging from emergency medicine to space travel. Studying a hibernation-like response in the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we uncovered a regulatory axis that enhances the natural resistance of nematodes to severe cold. This axis involves conserved transcription factors, DAF-16/FoxO and PQM-1, which jointly promote cold survival by upregulating FTN-1, a protein related to mammalian ferritin heavy chain (FTH1). Moreover, we show that inducing expression of FTH1 also promotes cold survival of mammalian neurons, a cell type particularly sensitive to deterioration in hypothermia. Our findings in both animals and cells suggest that FTN-1/FTH1 facilitates cold surv

SUBMITTER: Pekec T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9391379 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature