Development of monoclonal antibodies to determine sites of leukocyte retention in hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels (ictidomys tridecemlineatus)

Abstract

During hibernation, ground squirrels undergo many adaptive physiological changes including a reduction of respiration and blood flow. While reduced blood flow normally leads to blood clot formation in humans, ground squirrels appear to have internal biochemical mechanisms that prevent clot-formation during hibernation. Another physiological change is that white blood cells greatly reduce in number from peripheral blood during hibernation. This could be an adaptation to help prevent damaging inflammation in blood vessels. It is unclear where the white blood cells are retained during hibernation; therefore the objective of this study was to develop a line of antibodies that will specifically target the white blood cells of ground squirrels to determine their location during hibernation. Understanding how these physiological changes occur in ground squirrels could help shed light on how inflammation may be regulated in some clinical situations.