Research

Research interests

Mammalian Hibernation

Many mammals in nature possess hibernation capacity. They reduce energy expenditure by lowering body temperature and metabolic levels and curtailing physical activity to adapt to harsh living conditions. During hibernation, their body temperature drops from around 36°C to roughly 4°C, with metabolism declining to about 5% of the active state. Heart rate falls from hundreds of beats per minute to just a few beats, and respiratory frequency decreases from dozens of breaths per minute to several breaths or even one breath every few minutes. Nevertheless, no apparent damage occurs to mammalian tissues and organs during hibernation. Accordingly, deciphering hibernation mechanisms and establishing controllable hypometabolism induction and resuscitation technologies can provide theoretical and experimental foundations for clinical applications of artificial hibernation, such as organ cold preservation in transplantation, long-term human dormancy and space exploration.

We establish mammalian hibernation models and focus on two core research aspects of hibernation biology: exploring the mechanisms underlying organismal cold adaptation, and developing induction systems for artificial hibernation.