Cheng, HangSebaa, RajaaMalholtra, NikitaLacoste, BaptisteEl Hankouri, ZiyadKirby, AlexiaBennett, Nigel CharlesVan Jaarsveld, BarryHart, Daniel WilliamTattersall, Glenn J.Harper, Mary-EllenPamenter, Matthew E.2022-09-222022-09-222021-11-23Cheng, H., Sebaa, R., Malholtra, N. et al. 2021, 'Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1', Nature Communications, vol. 12, art. 6801, pp. 1-14, doi : 10.1038/s41467-021-27170-2.2041-1723 (online)10.1038/s41467-021-27170-2https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/87301Naked mole-rats are among the most hypoxia-tolerant mammals. During hypoxia, their body temperature (Tb) decreases via unknown mechanisms to conserve energy. In small mammals, non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT) is critical to Tb regulation; therefore, we hypothesize that hypoxia decreases naked mole-rat BAT thermogenesis. To test this, we measure changes in Tb during normoxia and hypoxia (7% O2; 1–3 h). We report that interscapular thermogenesis is high in normoxia but ceases during hypoxia, and Tb decreases. Furthermore, in BAT from animals treated in hypoxia, UCP1 and mitochondrial complexes I-V protein expression rapidly decrease, while mitochondria undergo fission, and apoptosis and mitophagy are inhibited. Finally, UCP1 expression decreases in hypoxia in three other social African mole-rat species, but not a solitary species. These findings suggest that the ability to rapidly down-regulate thermogenesis to conserve oxygen in hypoxia may have evolved preferentially in social species.en© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.NakedHypoxiaTemperatureNaked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)Naked mole-rats (NMRs)Article