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Research Article
Environmental temperature effects on adipose tissue growth in a hibernator
Amanda D. V. MacCannell, Kevin J. Sinclair, Charles A. McKenzie, James F. Staples
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb194548 doi: 10.1242/jeb.194548 Published 1 February 2019
Amanda D. V. MacCannell
Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B8, Canada
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  • ORCID record for Amanda D. V. MacCannell
  • For correspondence: umamac@leeds.ac.uk
Kevin J. Sinclair
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada
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Charles A. McKenzie
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada
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James F. Staples
Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B8, Canada
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ABSTRACT

Obligate hibernators express circannual patterns of body mass and hibernation, which persist under constant laboratory conditions. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is important for thermogenesis during arousals from hibernation, whereas white adipose tissue (WAT) serves as energy storage and thermal insulation. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental temperature on BAT and WAT. We hypothesized that changes to environmental temperature would not influence the pattern of mass gain or BAT and WAT volume in the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus). To test this, we housed animals at thermoneutral 25°C (warm-housed) or 5°C (cold-housed), with the same photoperiod (12 h light:12 h dark) over an entire year. Throughout the year we measured the volume and water:fat ratio of WAT and BAT using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We found no evidence of torpor in the warm-housed animals, indicating that this species might not be an obligate hibernator, as previously assumed. Regardless of ambient temperature, BAT volume increased prior to winter, then decreased in late winter with no change in water:fat ratio. By contrast, both body mass and WAT volume of cold-housed animals declined throughout the winter and recovered after hibernation, but thermoneutral housing produced no circannual pattern in body mass, even though WAT volume declined in late winter. Cold exposure appears to be a primary regulator for WAT but BAT may exhibit an endogenous circannual rhythm in terms of depot volume.

FOOTNOTES

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    Conceptualization: C.A.M., J.F.S.; Methodology: C.A.M., J.F.S.; Software: K.J.S.; Validation: A.D.V.M.; Formal analysis: A.D.V.M.; Investigation: A.D.V.M., K.J.S.; Resources: C.A.M., J.F.S.; Writing - original draft: A.D.V.M., J.F.S.; Writing - review & editing: A.D.V.M., K.J.S., C.A.M., J.F.S.; Supervision: C.A.M., J.F.S.; Project administration: J.F.S.; Funding acquisition: C.A.M., J.F.S.

  • Funding

    This research was supported by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Faculty of Science, University of Western Ontario (J.F.S.: RGPN-2014-04860, C.A.M.: RGPIN-2013-356310) and the Canada Research Chairs program (C.A.M.: 950-228038).

  • Received October 14, 2018.
  • Accepted December 12, 2018.
  • © 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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Keywords

  • Circannual endogenous rhythm
  • MRI
  • Hibernation
  • Brown adipose tissue
  • White adipose tissue

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Research Article
Environmental temperature effects on adipose tissue growth in a hibernator
Amanda D. V. MacCannell, Kevin J. Sinclair, Charles A. McKenzie, James F. Staples
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb194548 doi: 10.1242/jeb.194548 Published 1 February 2019
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Research Article
Environmental temperature effects on adipose tissue growth in a hibernator
Amanda D. V. MacCannell, Kevin J. Sinclair, Charles A. McKenzie, James F. Staples
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb194548 doi: 10.1242/jeb.194548 Published 1 February 2019

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