The Physiology of Heat Tolerance in Small Endotherms

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Abstract

Understanding the heat tolerances of small mammals and birds has taken on new urgency with the advent of climate change. Here, we review heat tolerance limits, pathways of evaporative heat dissipation that permit the defense of body temperature during heat exposure, and mechanisms operating at tissue, cellular, and molecular levels.

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Heat-shock proteins, molecular chaperones, and the stress response: evolutionary and ecological physiology.

M E Feder, G E Hofmann (1999)

Molecular chaperones, including the heat-shock proteins (Hsps), are a ubiquitous feature of cells in which these proteins cope with stress-induced denaturation of other proteins. Hsps have received the most attention in model organisms undergoing experimental stress in the laboratory, and the function of Hsps at the molecular and cellular level is becoming well understood in this context. A complementary focus is now emerging on the Hsps of both model and nonmodel organisms undergoing stress in nature, on the roles of Hsps in the stress physiology of whole multicellular eukaryotes and the tissues and organs they comprise, and on the ecological and evolutionary correlates of variation in Hsps and the genes that encode them. This focus discloses that (a) expression of Hsps can occur in nature, (b) all species have hsp genes but they vary in the patterns of their expression, (c) Hsp expression can be correlated with resistance to stress, and (d) species' thresholds for Hsp expression are correlated with levels of stress that they naturally undergo. These conclusions are now well established and may require little additional confirmation; many significant questions remain unanswered concerning both the mechanisms of Hsp-mediated stress tolerance at the organismal level and the evolutionary mechanisms that have diversified the hsp genes.

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The heat shock response: life on the verge of death.

Klaus Richter, Martin Haslbeck, Johannes Buchner (2010)

Organisms must survive a variety of stressful conditions, including sudden temperature increases that damage important cellular structures and interfere with essential functions. In response to heat stress, cells activate an ancient signaling pathway leading to the transient expression of heat shock or heat stress proteins (Hsps). Hsps exhibit sophisticated protection mechanisms, and the most conserved Hsps are molecular chaperones that prevent the formation of nonspecific protein aggregates and assist proteins in the acquisition of their native structures. In this Review, we summarize the concepts of the protective Hsp network. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Heat shock proteins: modifying factors in physiological stress responses and acquired thermotolerance.

Kevin Kregel (2002)

Cells from virtually all organisms respond to a variety of stresses by the rapid synthesis of a highly conserved set of polypeptides termed heat shock proteins (HSPs). The precise functions of HSPs are unknown, but there is considerable evidence that these stress proteins are essential for survival at both normal and elevated temperatures. HSPs also appear to play a critical role in the development of thermotolerance and protection from cellular damage associated with stresses such as ischemia, cytokines, and energy depletion. These observations suggest that HSPs play an important role in both normal cellular homeostasis and the stress response. This mini-review examines recent evidence and hypotheses suggesting that the HSPs may be important modifying factors in cellular responses to a variety of physiologically relevant conditions such as hyperthermia, exercise, oxidative stress, metabolic challenge, and aging.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Physiology

Abbreviated Title: Physiology

Publisher: American Physiological Society

ISSN (Print): 1548-9213

ISSN (Electronic): 1548-9221

Publication date Created: September 01 2019

Publication date (Print): September 01 2019

Volume: 34

Issue: 5

Pages: 302-313

Affiliations

[1 ]South African Research Chair in Conservation Physiology, National Zoological Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, South Africa

[2 ]DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa

[3 ]UNM Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Article

DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00011.2019

PubMed ID: 31389778

SO-VID: f0896fa9-210f-4cf5-9449-6cde113dd656

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The Physiology of Heat Tolerance in Small Endotherms

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The Journal of Physiology

Most cited references 117

Heat-shock proteins, molecular chaperones, and the stress response: evolutionary and ecological physiology.

The heat shock response: life on the verge of death.

Heat shock proteins: modifying factors in physiological stress responses and acquired thermotolerance.

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Cited by 56

Most referenced authors 1,849