Long-read isoform sequencing reveals tissue-specific isoform expression between active and hibernating brown bears (Ursus arctos)
Understanding hibernation in brown bears (Ursus arctos) can provide insight into many human diseases. During hibernation, brown bears experience states of insulin resistance, physical inactivity, extreme bradycardia, obesity, and the absence of urine production. These states closely mimic human diseases such as type 2 diabetes, muscle atrophy, renal and heart failure, cachexia, and obesity. The reversibility of these states from hibernation to active season allows for the identification of novel mediators with possible therapeutic value for humans. Recent studies have identified genes and pathways that are differentially expressed between active and hibernation seasons. However, little is known about the role of differential expression of gene isoforms on hibernation physiology. To identify both distinct and novel mRNA isoforms, we performed full-length RNA-sequencing (Iso-Seq) on three tissue types from three individuals sampled during both active and hibernation seasons. We combined the long-read data with the reference annotation for an improved transcriptome and mapped RNA-seq data from six individuals to the improved transcriptome to quantify differential isoform usage between tissues and seasons. We identified differentially expressed isoforms in all study tissues and showed that adipose has a high level of differential isoform usage with isoform switching, regardless of whether the genes were differentially expressed. Our analyses provide a comprehensive evaluation of isoform usage between active and hibernation states, revealing that differential isoform usage, even in the absence of differential gene expression, is an important mechanism for modulating genes during hibernation. These findings demonstrate the value of isoform expression studies and will serve as the basis for deeper exploration into hibernation biology.