Dear Colleagues,

Many vertebrates regulate their body temperature in response to thermal variability of the environment. Endotherms maintain relatively stable body temperatures by adjusting metabolic heat production in response to varying environmental heat loads. Although most ectotherms do not display adaptive thermogenesis, they do adapt the cellular machinery and behavioral mechanism to compensate for environmental temperature variation. In general, the maintenance of the core body temperature is a critical brain function accomplished by the central neural network. This orchestrates a complex behavioral and autonomic repertoire in response to environmental temperature challenges or in support of immune responses (e.g., fever). In general, some components of the thermoregulatory systems in endotherms and ectotherms have been evolutionarily conserved. For example, it has been shown that environmental temperature is detected by the primary afferents of the somatosensory neurons in the skin, which express a set of ion channels (TRP receptor family) to detect particular temperatures. Thermal sensory (afferent) information is relayed to the brain (hypothalamus), which initiates a sympathetic efferent response. In recent years, several studies have revealed a number of receptor ion channels that mediate the perception of several temperature ranges. Most of the knowledge about thermoregulation and thermoperception corresponds to mammals and model animals such as rodents, mice and rats; however, the underlying molecular mechanism of the thermoregulation in ectotherms remains unknown. The present Special Issue will allow us to gain an understanding of the anatomical, thermoreceptor and functional relationships within the molecular network that control the thermoregulation in ectotherms. Delineating the molecular circuit mechanism underlying the thermoregulation provides us with a platform for exploring its functional organization, elucidating the molecular underpinnings of its interactions, and discovering novel approaches to modulating body temperature, as well as being able to understand how the ectotherms may cope with climate change.

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Boltana
Guest Editor

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• temperature
• homeostasis
• ectotherms
• thermoregulation
• thermal perception
• TRP channels
• sensory neuron
• fever