Torpid 13-lined ground squirrel liver mitochondria resist anoxia-reoxygenation despite high levels of protein damage

Hibernation confers resistance to ischemia-reperfusion injury in tissue, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Suppression of mitochondrial respiration during torpor may contribute to this tolerance. To explore this concept, we subjected isolated liver mitochondria from torpid, interbout euthermic (IBE) and summer 13-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) to 5 min of anoxia, followed by reoxygenation (A/R). We also included rat liver mitochondria as a non-hibernating comparison group. Maximum respiration rates of mitochondria from torpid ground squirrels were not affected by A/R, but in IBE and summer, these rates decreased by 50% following A/R and in rats they decreased by 80%. Comparing net ROS production rates among groups, revealed seasonal differences; mitochondria from IBE and torpor produced 75% less ROS than summer ground squirrels and rats. Measurements of oxidative damage to these mitochondria, both freshly isolated, as well as pre- and post-A/R, demonstrated elevated damage to protein, but not lipids, in all groups. Hibernation likely generates oxidative stress, as freshly isolated mitochondria had greater protein damage in torpor and IBE than in summer and rats. When comparing markers of damage pre- and post-A/R, we found that when RET was active, rat macromolecules were more damaged than when RET is inhibited, but in TLGS markers of damage were similar. This result suggests that suppression of RET during hibernation, both in torpor and IBE, lessens oxidative stress produced during arousal. Taken together our study suggests that ischemia-reperfusion tolerance at the mitochondrial level is associated with metabolically suppressed oxidative phosphorylation during hibernation.