METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR INDUCING TORPOR IN A SUBJECT

摘要

The present invention relates to the discovery the 5'-AMP and analogues thereof can be used to induce a state of torpor or suspended animation in subjects, as exemplified by studies carried out in laboratory mice. In these studies, mice were injected with high doses of 5'-AMP, which was found to result in a decoupling of the animals' body temperature regulation mechanism accompanied by a reduction in the animals' core body temperature, which tended to lower towards the ambient environmental temperature. It was further discovered that the introduction of high levels of 5'-AMP resulted in an induction of fat regulation genes such as procolipase (Clps) in tissues and organs that do not normally express Clps, this in turn was accompanied by a shift in metabolism from a primarily glycolytic energy metabolism (which is inhibited at lower temperatures) to one that relied primarily on the liberation and metabolism of free fatty acids. Substantial medical and other applications that arise out of this discovery are also disclosed.