| Some animals are able to survive for a long time under conditions of drastically reduced oxidative metabolism, called metabolic depression. The most investigated type of metabolic depression is hibernation. Research into the basic properties of liver mitochondria energetics during hibernation is essential for fundamental biology and medicine. However, the absence of a suitable hepatocyte culture makes it impossible to study the characteristic features of mitochondrial metabolic states in living cells during hibernation. We proposed that under selected conditions, the unicellular eukaryote Tetrahymena pyriformis resembles hepatocytes under hibernation, as (i) both cell types survive under condition of restricted food supply, hypoxia, and accumulation of... |
