At the invitation of the College of Life Sciences of Nanjing Normal University, Professor Yang Shilong from Northeast Forestry University successfully held an academic report titled "Temperature and Animal Survival Strategies" in the circular conference room on the third floor of Xingzhi Building, Xianlin Campus of Nanjing Normal University on April 28, 2025. This lecture was hosted by Professor Xu Shixia from the College of Life Sciences, and the teachers and students of the College of Life Sciences actively participated.

In this report, Professor Yang Shilong explored the material basis and adaptive evolution of animals' responses to abiotic signals (temperature, light, and sound waves). They took the antennae of the centipede with few spines as the research object and found that the antennae of the centipede with few spines are highly sensitive to external heat stimuli and can immediately respond to temperatures exceeding 32℃ and exhibit avoidance behavior. However, no known temperature-sensitive receptors (including ThermoTRP) were found in the transcripts of its antennae. These phenomena suggest that there may be novel temperature-sensitive receptors in the antennae of this species. Further records were made of antennae neurons, and it was found that only at the physiological pH of centipede body fluids (pH6.1), a high temperature above 32℃ could significantly enhance the calcium fluorescence signal produced by neurons, while no similar reaction occurred in a neutral environment. These results indicate that the primary receptor mediating antennae heat sensitivity is a hydrogen ion-dependent thermally activated ion channel. To identify this ion channel, researchers used the AlphaFold 2 software to predict the structure of protein-coding genes expressed by antennae, screened out gene sequences that might form transmembrane domains or polymers, and constructed eukaryotic expression plasmids for functional tests. It was found that a member of the epidermal sodium channel ENaC superfamily (a gene sequence with 22% sequence homology to a known ENaC member) could reproduce hydrogen ion-dependent thermal activation function. Interestingly, none of the known ENaC members can be activated by temperature, indicating that during the adaptive evolution of animals, this unknown member has acquired the ability to be directly activated by temperature through the regulation of structural functions and may have been involved in some special life process. In terms of functional aspects at the molecular level, this ion channel can be activated by temperatures above 32℃ under the physiological pH conditions of centipedes (pH6.1), and reaches the maximum activation level at 48℃. Because its temperature response range is much larger than that of all known temperature-sensitive receptors, this channel is named the broad-range thermal receptor 1 (BRTNaC1). What is even more interesting is that Professor Yang's team discovered that the surface of the antennae of the centipede with few spines is an efficient photothermal biomaterials that can absorb light energy in an extremely short time and achieve rapid heat conversion. The rapid increase in temperature (8 degrees Celsius within 10 seconds) is sufficient to activate BRTNaC1 within the antennae, enabling the animal to exhibit avoidance behavior towards sunlight exposure. The research of Professor Yang's team has expanded our understanding of the functions of the ENaC superfamily, deepened our knowledge of the mechanism of animal temperature perception, and improved the theory of animal responses to abiotic signals.

After the lecture, the teachers and students in attendance asked Professor Yang Shilong questions and exchanged views on the scientific issues they were interested in, and Professor Yang gave detailed answers. This lecture not only helped teachers and students gain a deeper understanding of temperature and animal survival strategies, but also further stimulated everyone's interest and enthusiasm for scientific research.