Preservation of intestinal gene expression during hibernation

¹ Department of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; and Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262

The role of luminal nutrients in regulating enterocyte gene expression was studied in a natural model for long-term fasting, the hibernating ground squirrel. Squirrels were studied during the active season and during the hibernation season when they had not eaten for at least 12 wk. The specific activities of sucrase, isomaltase, and intestinal alkaline phosphatase in jejunal brush-border membranes were similar in hibernating and active squirrels, whereas amino-oligopeptidase was reduced in hibernators. Na⁺-K⁺-adenosinetriphosphatase activity in jejunal mucosa was unchanged by hibernation. Densitometric analysis of Western blots showed that abundance of sucrase-isomaltase (SI), amino-oligopeptidase, and the Na⁺-glucose cotransporter SGLT1 was similar in the two activity states. Preservation of SI abundance in hibernation was confirmed by immunocytochemistry. Slot-blot analysis revealed no differences in mRNAlevels for these proteins between hibernating and active squirrels. Enterocyte proliferation and migration rates were greatly suppressed in torpid squirrels but increased immediately upon rewarming during arousals. These results demonstrate the striking constancy of enterocyte gene expression despite long-term fasting in a hibernating mammal.

small intestine; brush-border proteins; enzymes; sodium-glucose cotransporter

Submitted on November 15, 1995
Accepted on April 24, 1996

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