Common transcriptional changes in the brain during hibernation and Alzheimer's disease.

Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of golden hamster hippocampi shows large, cell-type-wide transcriptional shifts across hibernation, with especially strong changes in glia and shared mitochondrial and ribosomal programs.

• Why it matters: Hibernation involves rapid brain remodeling, yet how its molecular adaptations relate to Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms is unclear, particularly whether similar early cellular states can arise without pathology.
• What they did: The study profiled hippocampal nuclei from golden hamsters across the hibernation cycle using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, comparing transcriptional programs across all cell types, including microglia.
• The result: Hibernation induces an inflammatory-like microglial response resembling Alzheimer's disease cell states, occurring without Aβ-accumulation and neurodegeneration, suggesting early AD-like changes may reflect a natural adaptation.

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