Metabolic Adaptation and Pulmonary ceRNA Network Plasticity in Orientallactaga sibirica During Water Deprivation Stress

Rising global temperatures lead to a continuous increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, posing serious threats to terrestrial homeotherms. However, adaptive changes in respiratory metabolism and molecular mechanisms in lung tissues of small mammals under extreme water shortage conditions remain unclear. This study hypothesized that small desert mammals can adapt to extreme water shortage environments by regulating the plasticity of lung tissue gene expression and respiratory metabolism. Using 29 wild-caught Siberian jerboas (<i>Orientallactaga sibirica</i>) as subjects, we implemented a 12-day complete water deprivation protocol to simulate extreme aridity. Body weight, food intake, and daily energy expenditure (DEE) were monitored throughout the experiment. Whole-transcriptome sequencing of lung tissues was performed to profile mRNA, circRNA, and miRNA expression, with competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analysis to explore molecular mechanisms underlying lung adaptation to water deprivation. Over the 12-day water deprivation (WS) period, <i>Orientallactaga sibirica (O. sibirica)</i> exhibited a 30.3% reduction in body mass and a 68.1% decrease in food intake relative to the baseline level. DEE during the peak activity period at the end of the experiment was 12.6% lower in the WS group compared to the control group. In lung tissue, structural integrity-related genes (<i>Mybl2</i>, <i>Ccnb1</i>) were downregulated. A key finding was that <i>circ_0015576</i> exhibits a significant positive correlation with the potassium channel gene <i>Kcnk15</i> and a robust negative correlation with <i>miR-503-5p</i>-suggesting that <i>circ_0015576</i> functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to sequester <i>miR-503-5p</i> and thereby derepress <i>Kcnk15</i> expression. Core regulatory genes (<i>ApoA4</i>, <i>Dusp15</i> etc.) were also coordinately downregulated. Collectively, these results indicate that <i>O. sibirica</i> reduces overall energy expenditure, which may be associated with lung gene expression plasticity, such as those related with lung cell proliferation, pulmonary function, and gas exchange efficiency. This metabolic downregulation facilitates energy conservation under severe water scarcity.