Abstract
Thermoregulation at organism level is the well-established fact. The question on possibility of thermoregulation at the cell level remains opened. Based on study of distribution of chromosomal heterochromatin regions (HRs) in various human populations, in norm and at some forms of pathology the hypothesis about thermoregulation existence at the cell level has been presented. The essence of hypothesis of cell thermoregulation (СТ) is elimination of the temperature difference between the nucleus and cytoplasm when the nucleus temperature becomes higher than the cytoplasm temperature. The nucleus, in contrast to the cytoplasm, cannot conduct heat directly in the extracellular space, from where the heat is taken by the circulating flow of sap, lymph and blood. Thus, the nucleus can conduct heat only in the cytoplasm. With this, the nucleus has two options for the dissipation of heat surplus: either by increasing its volume or increasing the heat conductivity of the nuclear envelope. As the first option is limited, and the second one is hampered because of thickness of the cell membranes, apparently the higher eukaryotes took advantage of the opportunity of a dense layer of peripheral condensed chromatin (CC) as heat conductor for a more efficient elimination of the temperature difference between the nucleus and cytoplasm. The СС localized between a nucleus and cytoplasm is made of different types of chromosomal HRs. For this reason, СС is subject to wide variability in population. Obviously, the density of the СС packing depends on the type and quantity of chromosomal HRs in its structure that can affect upon its heat-conducting ability. If the situation is this then we are entitled to expect a new type of variability with all consequences resulting from here.
Highlights
More than ten years ago the hypothesis about possibility of thermoregulation existence at a cell level was presented and it was named conditionally as a cell thermoregulation (СТ) (Ibraimov, 2003; 2004)
Based on our original investigations of chromosomal Q-heterochromatin regions (Q-HRs) variability in human populations, as well as on the analysis of existing literary data on the condensed chromatin (CC), structure of interphase nucleus and redundant DNA in the genome of higher eukaryotes, an attempt is made to justify the hypothesis of cell thermoregulation (CT) (Ibraimov, 2003, 2004)
We have not had such opportunity until present. We have checked this hypothesis on the level of human organism assuming that CT is the basis for heat conductivity of whole cell part of body. These researches showed that individuals in population truly differ from each other in body heat conductivity (BHC) and its level depends on the amount of chromosomal Q-HRs in human genome
Summary
More than ten years ago the hypothesis about possibility of thermoregulation existence at a cell level was presented and it was named conditionally as a cell thermoregulation (СТ) (Ibraimov, 2003; 2004). For these years, this hypothesis did not receive the direct experimental confirmation at the cell level. The indirect methods of СТ estimation at level of the whole organism have shown possibilities of such phenomenon existence, and it can have the important theoretical value and practical application (Ibraimov, 2016a, b; Ibraimov et al, 2014a). Some questions related to the experimental verification of the СТ hypothesis and prospects of the further researches are discussed in the present work
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