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The transcriptional cortical response to daily torpor in <i>Phodopus sungorus</i>.

Overview

Authors: Lukas C Bal1, Marcel S Woo1, Nicola Rothammer1, Elena Haugg2, Christina Mayer1, Annika Herwig2, Manuel A Friese1
ORCID iDs: Lukas C Bal, Marcel S Woo, Elena Haugg, Manuel A Friese
  1. Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
  2. Institute of Molecular Endocrinology and Physiology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
Institutions: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany); Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (Germany); Universität Ulm (Germany)
Journal: Life science alliance, volume 9, issue 10, article e202603677
Dates: received 26 February 2026; accepted 15 July 2026; published online 29 July 2026; in print October 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.26508/lsa.202603677 · PMID 42527110 · PMCID PMC13421379 · OpenAlex W7171712318
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: data only
Categories: cellular / molecular (subfield)
Methods: Statistics
MeSH: Cerebral Cortex*, Phodopus*, Torpor*, Animals, Circadian Rhythm, Cricetinae, Gene Expression Regulation, Hypothalamus, Male, Neurons, Seasons, Transcription, Genetic (* major topic)
Topic: Circadian rhythm and melatonin (Endocrine and Autonomic Systems, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HE 6382/2); Werner-Otto-Stiftung (7/97)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 82 references in the paper

Abstract

Torpor is an essential evolutionary strategy that allows mammals to conserve resources under extreme environmental conditions. Although the hypothalamus is a key regulator of systemic acclimatisation to energy scarcity and reduced temperature, it remains unclear how the cortex, with its high metabolic demand, endures this state. Here, we performed RNA sequencing on neuronal and non-neuronal nuclei isolated from the cortex of Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) across different seasonal and metabolic states. We found that non-neuronal cells primarily adjust during the seasonal transition from a summer to winter phenotype, with differential expression of genes linked to circadian rhythm. In contrast, cortical neurons exhibited major transcriptional changes during daily torpor, marked by increased expression of RNA catabolic pathways. Finally, comparison with published hypothalamic datasets revealed distinct transcriptional programmes between the cortex and hypothalamus. Together, these findings highlight cell type– and region-specific transcriptional changes that preserve CNS integrity during metabolic depression.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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Data

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Data Availability

RNA-sequencing data have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus repository (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) under the accession number GSE320478 (https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE320478). All the remaining data are included in the article or are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 12 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 82 references.

Cite

This paper

Bal, L. C., Woo, M. S., Rothammer, N., Haugg, E., Mayer, C., Herwig, A., & Friese, M. A. (2026). The transcriptional cortical response to daily torpor in <i>Phodopus sungorus</i>. Life science alliance, 9(10), e202603677. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202603677

BibTeX

@article{bal2026transcriptional,
author = {Bal, Lukas C and Woo, Marcel S and Rothammer, Nicola and Haugg, Elena and Mayer, Christina and Herwig, Annika and Friese, Manuel A},
title = {{The transcriptional cortical response to daily torpor in \<i\>Phodopus sungorus\</i\>}},
journal = {Life science alliance},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {9},
number = {10},
pages = {e202603677},
publisher = {Life Science Alliance LLC},
issn = {2575-1077},
doi = {10.26508/lsa.202603677},
url = {https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202603677},
pmid = {42527110},
pmcid = {PMC13421379}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Bal, Lukas C
AU - Woo, Marcel S
AU - Rothammer, Nicola
AU - Haugg, Elena
AU - Mayer, Christina
AU - Herwig, Annika
AU - Friese, Manuel A
TI - The transcriptional cortical response to daily torpor in <i>Phodopus sungorus</i>
T2 - Life science alliance
J2 - Life Sci Alliance
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/29
VL - 9
IS - 10
SP - e202603677
SN - 2575-1077
PB - Life Science Alliance LLC
DO - 10.26508/lsa.202603677
UR - https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202603677
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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"language": "en",
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