Plasticity of White Adipose Tissue in Tupaia belangeri under Food Restriction and Refeeding

ABSTRACT Small mammals had their own adaptive strategies to changes of food resources. In order to investigate the adaptive changes of white adipose tissue (WAT) in Tupaia belangeri under food restriction (FR, fed 70% of ad libitum food intake) and refeeding (Re), body mass, food intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR), morphology, the positive expressions of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and Cd137, and the relative expressions of PR domain containing 16 (PRDM16), bone morphogenetic proteins 7 (BMP7), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) of WAT were measured. The results showed that body mass, food intake and RMR were decreased in T. belangeri under FR condition, and the relative expressions of COX-2 and BMP7 in WAT were also declined. After refeeding, the above indexes were all recovered to the control level. But there were no significant differences between morphology and positive expressions of UCP1 and Cd137. All of the above results suggested that the physiological indexes in T. belangeri showed plasticity under the condition of FR and Re. Moreover, WAT played an important role in the survival environment of T. belangeri to adapt to the fluctuation of food resources.