Insights from a vertebrate model organism on the molecular mechanisms of whole-body dehydration tolerance

Studies on the molecular mechanisms of dehydration tolerance have been largely limited to plants and invertebrates. Currently, research in whole body dehydration of complex animals is limited to cognitive and behavioral effects in humans, leaving the molecular mechanisms of vertebrate dehydration re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular and cellular biochemistry 2021-06, Vol.476 (6), p.2381-2392
Main Authors: Luu, Bryan E., Hawkins, Liam J., Storey, Kenneth B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Amphibians
Analysis
Animal behavior
Animal models
Antioxidants
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Blood circulation
Body water
Cardiology
Circulatory system
Cognitive ability
Dehydration
Drought
Enzymes
Frogs
Gene expression
Genetic transcription
Genomes
Genomics
Glycolysis
Habitats
Heat shock proteins
Hemoglobin
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Medical Biochemistry
Metabolism
Molecular modelling
Muscles
Non-coding RNA
Oncology
Organs
Osmoregulation
Phosphorylation
Physiology
Plasma
Post-transcription
Post-translation
Reptiles & amphibians
Skeletal muscle
Skin
Toads
Vertebrates
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Summary:Studies on the molecular mechanisms of dehydration tolerance have been largely limited to plants and invertebrates. Currently, research in whole body dehydration of complex animals is limited to cognitive and behavioral effects in humans, leaving the molecular mechanisms of vertebrate dehydration relatively unexplored. The present review summarizes studies to date on the African clawed frog ( Xenopus laevis ) and examines whole-body dehydration on physiological, cellular and molecular levels. This aquatic frog is exposed to seasonal droughts in its native habitat and can endure a loss of over 30% of its total body water. When coping with dehydration, osmoregulatory processes prioritize water retention in skeletal tissues and vital organs over plasma volume. Although systemic blood circulation is maintained in the vital organs and even elevated in the brain during dehydration, it is done so at the expense of reduced circulation to the skeletal muscles. Increased hemoglobin affinity for oxygen helps to counteract impaired blood circulation and metabolic enzymes show altered kinetic and regulatory parameters that support the use of anaerobic glycolysis. Recent studies with X. laevis also show that pro-survival pathways such as antioxidant defenses and heat shock proteins are activated in an organ-specific manner during dehydration. These pathways are tightly coordinated at the post-transcriptional level by non-coding RNAs, and at the post-translational level by reversible protein phosphorylation. Paired with ongoing research on the X. laevis genome, the African clawed frog is poised to be an ideal animal model with which to investigate the molecular adaptations for dehydration tolerance much more deeply.
ISSN:0300-8177
1573-4919
DOI:10.1007/s11010-021-04072-x