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Membrane changes during hibernation

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Organelle lipids undergo rapidly reversible rearrangement as body temperature drops.

Abstract

Cellular membranes are susceptible to injury by cold, which causes their lipid components to separate1,2,3,4. Here we investigate the structural changes that occur in organelle membranes inside cells of the central nervous system of hypothermic ground squirrels during hibernation. We find that lipids in these membranes sequester into protein-free domains that laterally displace membrane proteins and the underlying cytoplasmic matrix. But when the animal is aroused from hibernation, all these components return to their normal arrangements as the body temperature rises. Understanding this reversible temperature-induced redistribution of membrane lipids should help in the study of the effects of severe cold on non-hibernating species (including humans) and in the cryopreservation of cells and tissues.

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Figure 1: Structural changes induced by low temperature in endoplasmic reticulum membranes during hibernation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stroke Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Nabil A. Azzam & John M. Hallenbeck

  2. Section on Structural Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 , Maryland, USA

    Bechara Kachar

Authors
  1. Nabil A. Azzam
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  2. John M. Hallenbeck
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  3. Bechara Kachar
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Azzam, N., Hallenbeck, J. & Kachar, B. Membrane changes during hibernation. Nature 407, 317–318 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35030294

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