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Query: UMLS:C0027960 (mole)
 21,279 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The blind subterranean mole rat of the Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies, living underground and exposed to fluctuating oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, is an excellent model of hypoxic tolerance. Unique structural and functional adaptations of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems allow these underground mammals to survive at severely reduced oxygen tension. Elucidation of the natural variation and evolutionary changes under hypoxia within this superspecies may have biomedical applications in ischemic syndromes and cancer. In this study, we have compared expression profiles of muscle tissue at normoxic (21%) and hypoxic (3%) levels of oxygen concentration between two allospecies of the S. ehrenbergi superspecies exhibiting differential hypoxia tolerance in accordance with their ecological regimes. Profiling was performed by cross-species hybridization using a mouse cDNA array containing 15,000 gene elements. Results uncover species-specific responses to hypoxic stress among numerous genes involved in angiogenesis, apoptosis, and oxidative stress management. Among the most striking results are differential expressions of cardiac ankyrin repeat protein (Carp), activating transcription factor 3 (Atf3), LIM and cysteine-rich domains 1 (Lmcd1), cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 (Csrp2), and ras homolog gene family, member B (RhoB). These findings support the hypothesis that allospecies of the S. ehrenbergi superspecies are variably adapted to fluctuating oxygen tension. Differences may involve specific metabolic pathways and functional adaptations at the structural and molecular levels.
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PMID:Differential expression profiling of the blind subterranean mole rat Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies: bioprospecting for hypoxia tolerance. 1678 6

The muscle ankyrin repeat proteins (MARPs), also known as muscle stretch proteins, are members of a conserved family of genes known to be induced under stress conditions. The three primary members, cardiac ankyrin repeat protein (CARP), Ankyrin Repeat Domain 2 (ARPP), and diabetes-related ankyrin repeat protein (DARP) are expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle, binding to the giant protein titin. In addition, both CARP and ARPP are proposed to have regulatory functions, shuttling to the nucleus and serving as a liaison between mechanical stress and the transcriptional response. In mouse and human models, CARP is induced during wound healing, denervation, neurogenesis, and angiogenesis; ARPP during an immobilized stretch; DARP is up-regulated in type 2 diabetes, as well as brown adipose tissue, suggesting a role in energy metabolism. Most animal models have focused on stretch response stress; however, little is known about the response of MARPs to hypoxic stress. The blind subterranean mole rat is a model for hypoxia tolerance with the ability to survive extremely hypoxic and hypercapnic underground conditions. Following observations that CARP is differentially expressed in the Spalax muscle in response to hypoxia, we have sequenced the Spalax orthologs of the MARP proteins and profiled expression patterns under varying levels of hypoxic stress among two Spalax species and Rattus. Results show expression patterns highly correlated to the degree of hypoxic tolerance among the three species. Understanding the differences in MARP expression further elucidates mechanisms of hypoxia tolerance with relevance to human ischemic disease.
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PMID:The muscle ankyrin repeat proteins are hypoxia-sensitive: in vivo mRNA expression in the hypoxia-tolerant blind subterranean mole rat, Spalax ehrenbergi. 1996 43