Role of PPARα in the Control of Torpor through FGF21-NPY Pathway : From Circadian Clock to Seasonal Change in Mammals

Abstract EN

In nature, hibernating animals encounter fasting, cold temperature and short day seasonally.

Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually characterized by a reduced body temperature and rate of metabolism to adapt such a severe environment.

Ablation of the central clock synchronizer, the suprachiasmatic nucleus in brain, abolishes torpor, a hibernation-like state, implicating the circadian clock involved in this seasonal change.

Biologists knows well the energy source of daily heterotherms/hibernators changed from glucose to lipids in winter.

Here we review several lines of evidence of a master transcriptional regulator in lipid catabolism, PPARα, in the control of torpor through FGF21-NPY pathway.

This indicate the importance of circadian—and photoperiod—regulation of PPARα to tell seasons in our body.