Structural Changes in Rat Hepatocyte Nucleolus under Nucleolar Stress Caused by Hypothermia

Structural changes in rat hepatocyte nucleoli were studied during deep hypothermia simulated by immersion in water at 5°C for 40 min (ambient air temperature 7°C). In comparison with the control, phenomena of nucleolar stress occurred in rats during hypothermia: the number of fibrillar centers (FC) per nucleus (by 1.7 times) and per nucleolus (by 1.6 times), nucleolonemal nucleoli per nucleus (by 2.8 times), and the relative content of nucleolonemal nucleoli per nucleus (by 2.6 times) significantly decreased (p=0.0000001); the number of FC per nucleolonemal nucleolus also decreased by 1.4 times (p=0.01). In the hepatocyte nuclei, we observed an increase in the relative content of transitional type nucleoli per nucleus (by 1.3 times; p=0.01), the number of FC per transitional type nucleolus (by 1.4 times; p=0.003), the content of free FC per nucleus (by 3 times; p=0.00004), and the percentage of free FC per nucleus (by 3.5 times; p=0.00004). These changes can be considered as compensatory and adaptive reactions, and transitional type nucleoli can be attributed to the "reserve" nucleolar pool.