{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T05:10:24Z","timestamp":1788844224083,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022M712898"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022M712898"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["2022M712898"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022M712898"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0426zh255","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Henan Province","award":["308009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["308009"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006407","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["242300420169"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["242300420169"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006407","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006407","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["262300422174"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["262300422174"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006407","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["32301302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32301302"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["32301302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32301302"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rising global temperatures pose a serious threat to wild small mammals\u2019 population persistence. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying heat-induced testicular impairment in Brandt\u2019s vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii), a dominant small mammal species of the Eurasian temperate steppe. Adult males were subjected to short-term heat exposure at 37 \u00b0C, 39 \u00b0C, and 41 \u00b0C. Heat stress at temperatures \u2265 39 \u00b0C significantly reduced the testicular index and caused histopathological damage. Integrated transcriptomic and data-independent acquisition proteomic analyses revealed significant enrichment of pathways related to endoplasmic reticulum protein processing and barrier function. Further molecular validation showed significant upregulation of key ER stress-related markers, including total eIF2\u03b1, ATF4, ATF6B, and XBP1, suggesting the potential involvement of the unfolded protein response. Together, these results identify endoplasmic reticulum stress as a key mediator of heat-induced testicular injury and highlight that 41 \u00b0C leads to marked activation of ER stress markers and severe testicular impairment in Brandt\u2019s voles, even following short-term exposure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15171553","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T08:07:06Z","timestamp":1788768426000},"page":"1553","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Heat Stress-Induced Male Reproductive Dysfunction in Brandt\u2019s Vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii): A Central Role for Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3052-4416","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kang","family":"Lou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Jiaxue","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yankai","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xiaomeng","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Lijuan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Zhiguang","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical School, Huanghe Science & Technology College, Zhengzhou 450063, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6050-2764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Senlin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5946-2806","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhenlong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1404","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abo3378","article-title":"Current global efforts are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5 \u00b0C","volume":"376","author":"Matthews","year":"2022","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quaint.2014.08.017","article-title":"Lasiopodomys brandti in Pleistocene of Transbaiklia and adjacent territories: Distribution area, evolutionary development in context of global and regional events","volume":"355","author":"Alexeeva","year":"2015","journal-title":"Quat. 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