Mitochondrial DNA methyltransferases and their regulation under freezing and dehydration stresses in the freeze-tolerant wood frog, Rana sylvatica

Abstract

Wood frogs are a few vertebrate species that can survive whole-body freezing. Multiple adaptations support this, including cryoprotectant production (glucose), metabolic rate depression, and selective changes in gene and protein expression to activate pro-survival pathways. The role of DNA methylation machinery (DNA methyltransferases, DNMTs) in regulating nuclear gene expression to support freezing survival has already been established. However, a comparable role for DNMTs in the mitochondria has not been explored in wood frogs. We examined the mitochondrial protein levels of DNMT-1, DNMT-3A, DNMT-3B, and DNMT-3L as well as mitochondrial DNMT activity in the liver and heart to assess the involvement of DNMT in the survival of freezing and dehydration stresses (cellular dehydration being a component of freezing). Our results showed stress- and tissue-specific responses to mitochondrial DNMT-1 in the liver and heart, respectively. During 24 h of freezing and whole-body dehydration, we observed an overall downregulation of mitochondrial DNMT-1, a major protein involved in maintaining methylation levels related to its role in the selective transcription of mitochondrial genes as well as antioxidant response. Tissue-specific responses of protein levels of DNMT-3A, DNMT-3B, DNMT-3L, and DNMT activity in the liver suggested a preference for a higher methylation state in the liver under both freezing and dehydration stress, but not in the heart.