Biosamples and observations from Weddell Seal colonies in McMurdo Sound during the 2015-2016 Antarctic field season

The Weddell seal is a champion diving mammal - key elements of their physiological specializations to breath-hold are their ability for remarkable adjustment of their heart and blood vessel system, coordinating blood pressure and flow to specific body regions based on their metabolic requirements, and their ability to sustain periods without oxygen. The goal of this study is to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the dive response, specifically, to study a signaling pathway that coordinates local blood flow. This dataset identifies what animals were sampled and the details of what biosamples were collected to test the hypothesis that signaling modifications prevent local blood vessel changes under low oxygen conditions, thereby allowing the centrally mediated diving reflex to override local perfusion control. The metadata also details cryopreserved cells and cell lines that can be used to study the molecular effects of low oxygen conditions in the laboratory威德尔海豹（Weddell seal）是卓越的潜水哺乳类冠军——其屏息潜水的生理特化核心在于，可对心脏与血管系统进行显著调控，依据代谢需求协调特定身体区域的血压与血流，同时能够耐受长时间的无氧状态。本研究旨在揭示潜水反应背后的分子机制，具体而言即研究协调局部血流的信号通路。本数据集明确了采样动物的相关信息，以及所采集的生物样本（biosamples）细节，用于验证如下假说：信号通路修饰可阻止低氧条件下局部血管发生改变，从而使中枢介导的潜水反射能够凌驾于局部灌注调控之上。此外，该元数据（metadata）还详细记录了冷冻保存的细胞与细胞系，可用于实验室环境下研究低氧条件下的分子效应。