Seasonal variations of adipose tissue in Tupaia belangeri (Mammalia: Scandentia: Tupaiidae)

AbstractAnimals employ various strategies to adapt to different natural habitats. In order to investigate the relationship between thermogenesis of adipose tissue and seasonal variations in Tupaia belangeri, body mass, food intake, adipose tissue morphology, and expression levels of three adipose differentiation-related genes – peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor α (PPARα), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1-α (PGC-1α) – were measured in the present study. The results show that body mass and food intake increased significantly in winter compared with summer. White adipose tissue (WAT) in winter demonstrated the characteristic appearance of beige adipocytes, including smaller and multi-chamber lipid droplets, darker hue, and increased expression levels of COX-2 and PGC-1α genes, which would increase thermogenic properties in T. belangeri to make up for the lack of thermogenesis in nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) caused by brown adipose tissue (B...