Heat acclimation: phenotypic plasticity and cues to the underlying molecular mechanisms

Author: Horowitz, M.

Description: Acclimation, in contrast to evolutionary adaptation, is a “within life time phenotypic adaptation” resulting in a widening of the dynamic regulatory range of body temperature. Increased efficiency and capacity of the thermoregulatory effectors, and delayed onset of the temperature threshold for thermal injury, contribute to the beneficial effects of acclimation. Reprogrammed gene expression and changes in cellular signaling underlie these responses. Constitutive elevation of the inducible heat shock protein (HSP) 72 kDa provides cytoprotection and delays thermal injury without the need for de novo HSP synthesis upon thermal stress. The time window for evocation of heat acclimation is the early phase of acclimation, the short-term heat acclimation (STHA), with accelerated sympathetic excitability and a drop in plasma thyroxin playing an essential role. An important consequence of thermal acclimation is the development of cross-tolerance between heat acclimation and ischemia/reperfusion insults. The beneficial implications of this feature are discussed.

Subject headings: Thermal adaptation; Heat acclimation; Thermoregulatory effectors; Cellular signaling; Cross-tolerance; Heat shock proteins; Splanchnic circulation; Heart; Body fluid compartments; Rattus norvegicus; Psammomys obesus

Publication year: 2001

Journal or book title: Journal of Thermal Biology

Volume: 26

Issue: 4-5

Pages: 357-363

Find the full text : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306456501000444

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Type: Journal Article

Serial number: 1156