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Upregulation of the Mitochondrial Phosphate Carrier During Freezing in the Wood Frog Rana sylvatica: Potential Roles of Transporters in Freeze Tolerance

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Abstract

Screening of a cDNA library prepared from liver of the freeze-tolerant wood frog (Rana sylvatica) identified a freeze-responsive clone containing a 1370-nt sequence with an open reading frame of 360 amino acids. Sequence analysis revealed 84–86% identity with the mammalian inorganic phosphate carrier (PiC) that spans the inner mitochondrial membrane. Northern blot analysis showed that pic transcript levels increased over a time course of freezing, reaching 60-fold upregulation after 24-h frozen. Transcript levels were also assessed under freezing-related stresses with results showing a strong increase in pic transcript levels in response to dehydration (elevated 9.0-fold in 40% dehydrated frogs) but not under anoxia. Western blotting revealed elevated PiC protein over a time course of freeze-thaw whereas other mitochondrial carriers (dicarboxylate carrier, oxoglutarate transporter) of the same family were not affected by freezing. This modulation of PiC protein levels may play a role in mitochondrial ionic and/or osmotic balance during freeze-induced cell volume reduction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    J. N. Amritha De Croos, J. Dayre McNally & Kenneth B. Storey

  2. Dipartimento Farmaco-Biologico, Universita', di Bari, Bari, Italy

    Ferdinando Palmieri

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  1. J. N. Amritha De Croos
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  2. J. Dayre McNally
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  3. Ferdinando Palmieri
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  4. Kenneth B. Storey
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De Croos, J.N.A., McNally, J.D., Palmieri, F. et al. Upregulation of the Mitochondrial Phosphate Carrier During Freezing in the Wood Frog Rana sylvatica: Potential Roles of Transporters in Freeze Tolerance. J Bioenerg Biomembr 36, 229–239 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBB.0000031974.35812.c9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBB.0000031974.35812.c9

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