The naked mole-rat (NMR) is a poikilothermic mammal that forms eusocial colonies consisting of one breeding queen, several breeding kings, and subordinates. Despite their poikilothermic feature, NMRs possess brown adipose tissue (BAT), which in homeothermic mammals induces thermogenesis in cold environments. However, NMR-BAT thermogenic potential is controversial, and its physiological roles are unknown. Here, we show that NMR-BAT has beta-3 adrenergic receptor (ADRB3)-dependent thermogenic potential, which contributes to thermogenesis in the isolated queen in non-cold environments. NMR-BAT expressed several brown adipocyte marker genes and showed noradrenaline-dependent thermogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. Although our ADRB3 inhibition experiments revealed that NMR-BAT thermogenesis slightly delays the decrease in body temperature in a cold environment, it was insufficient to maintain the body temperatures of the NMRs. In a non-cold environment, NMRs are known to increase their body temperature by a heat-sharing behavior. Interestingly, we found that the body temperatures of NMRs isolated from the colony were also significantly higher than the ambient temperature. We also show that queens, but not subordinates, induce BAT thermogenesis in isolated, non-cold conditions. Our research provides novel insights into the role and mechanism of thermoregulation in this unique poikilothermic mammal.

中文翻译：

---

Poikilothermic哺乳动物裸mole鼠（Heterocephalus glaber）中棕色脂肪组织生热的表征

裸mole鼠（NMR）是一种会发热的哺乳动物，形成由一个育种女王，几个育种国王和下属组成的亲社会殖民地。尽管NMR具有发热的特征，但NMR具有棕色脂肪组织（BAT），该脂肪组织在恒温动物中诱导在寒冷环境中的生热作用。但是，NMR-BAT的产热潜力尚有争议，其生理作用尚不清楚。在这里，我们显示NMR-BAT具有β-3肾上腺素能受体（ADRB3）依赖的产热潜力，这有助于在非寒冷环境中的孤立女王中产热。NMR-BAT表达了几种棕色脂肪细胞标记基因，并在体外和体内显示去甲肾上腺素依赖性的产热活性。尽管我们的ADRB3抑制实验表明，在寒冷环境中NMR-BAT的生热作用略微延迟了体温的下降，但不足以维持NMR的体温。在非冷环境中，已知NMR通过热共享行为来提高体温。有趣的是，我们发现从菌落中分离出的NMR的体温也显着高于环境温度。我们还表明，皇后而不是下属在孤立的非寒冷条件下诱导BAT生热。我们的研究为这种独特的poikilothermic哺乳动物的温度调节的作用和机制提供了新颖的见解。