ABSTRACT
The occurrence of hibernation in mammals involves orchestration of a complex suite of physiological adaptations. This chapter goals to evaluate whether the expression of c-fos and other immediate early genes (IEGs) is altered in specific brain areas across the hibernation cycle. Because of their central role in regulating numerous downstream "target" genes, our initial studies have focused on expression of IGEs. IEGs or "early response" genes encode regulatory proteins that control the transcriptional response of cells to environmental stimuli. Further in situ hybridization studies are under way to determine whether other IEGs are regulated similar to c-fos in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) across the hibernation cycle. The increased c-fos expression observed in the SCN during the arousal from hibernation may represent the molecular manifestation of a "wake-up" signal communicated from the SCN to the rest of the brain. It focuses on the expression of IEGs, the approaches described here can be applied to other genes of interest.
