Publications by authors named "Anchal Varma"

The marsupial Monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides) utilizes both daily and seasonal bouts of torpor to preserve energy and prolong survival during periods of cold and unpredictable food availability. Torpor involves changes in cellular metabolism, including specific changes to gene expression that is coordinated in part, by the posttranscriptional gene silencing activity of microRNAs (miRNA). Previously, differential miRNA expression has been identified in D.

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The wood frog, Rana sylvatica endures whole body freezing for weeks/months while overwintering at subzero temperatures. Survival of long-term freezing requires not only cryoprotectants but also strong metabolic rate depression (MRD) and reorganization of essential processes in order to maintain a balance between ATP-producing and ATP-consuming processes. Citrate synthase (CS) (E.

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The wood frog, Rana sylvatica, employs freeze tolerance as a winter survival strategy in seasonally cold environments. At subzero temperatures, up to 65-70% of total body water can freeze in extracellular spaces, halting vital functions (breathing, heartbeat) and causing ischemia that, in turn, can have numerous consequences including the generation of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS). NADPH serves as a key donor of reductive power for most ROS detoxifying enzymes and can be generated by several metabolic pathways.

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The wood frog (Rana sylvatica) undergoes physiological and metabolic changes to withstand subzero temperatures and whole body freezing during the winter months. Along with metabolic rate depression, high concentrations of glucose are produced as a cryoprotectant by liver and distributed to all other tissues. Pyruvate kinase (PK; EC:2.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The wood frog can survive extreme freezing conditions by allowing up to 70% of its body water to freeze without showing signs of life, necessitating unique molecular adaptations to manage stress.
  • - The study focused on how N6-methyladenosine (mA) methylation influences gene regulation in the liver of these frogs during freezing and thawing periods, revealing variations in the activity of mA-related proteins.
  • - Key findings include a significant reduction in demethylase activity and an increase in mA methyltransferase proteins during freezing, suggesting that RNA methylation plays a crucial role in the frogs' survival strategies during hypometabolic states.
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The Midland painted turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata) are the highest known vertebrate species to experience and survive freezing and sub-zero temperatures. Painted turtles typically hatch from their eggs in the fall and remain underground in their nests until the following spring. While in these nests over the winter, hatchling turtles withstand over 50 % of their total extracellular body water freezing.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study focuses on the enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), which is essential for gluconeogenesis in the wood frog's liver, and its regulation during freezing conditions.
  • * Results show that FBPase activity is significantly reduced in frozen frogs, indicated by decreased sensitivity to its substrate and lower levels of serine phosphorylation, suggesting that gluconeogenesis is inhibited as part of the frog's survival strategy in extreme cold.
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The red-eared slider () undergoes numerous changes to its physiological and metabolic processes to survive without oxygen. During anoxic conditions, its metabolic rate drops drastically to minimize energy requirements. The alterations in the central metabolic pathways are often accomplished by the regulation of key enzymes.

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The intertidal marine snail, Littorina littorea, has evolved to survive bouts of anoxia and extracellular freezing brought about by changing tides and subsequent exposure to harsh environmental conditions. Survival in these anoxic conditions depends on the animals entering a state of metabolic rate depression in order to maintain an appropriate energy production-consumption balance during periods of limited oxygen availability. This study investigated the kinetic, physical, and regulatory properties of pyruvate kinase (PK), which catalyzes the final reaction of aerobic glycolysis, from foot muscle of L.

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