|
Research
Shows How Cells
Monitor Oxygen Levels
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - New research sheds light on exactly how
cells can tell if they've got enough oxygen, and the findings
could have implications for the treatment of cancer, high blood
pressure and stroke.
The answer
appears to lie with the activity of a protein--hypoxia-inducible
factor (HIF)--that controls a variety of other genes that direct
critical cell functions, two research groups reported in the online
edition of Sciencexpress for April 5th.
Normally,
HIF is produced continuously by cells but is immediately targeted
for destruction by another protein because HIF is not needed unless
oxygen levels fall to critically low levels, according to Dr.
William Kaelin from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts,
and associates.
When this
occurs, HIF swings into action, and turns on genes that either
increase oxygen uptake by the cell, or slows metabolism in response
to the reduced oxygen situation.
Kaelin's group
and researchers led by Dr. Peter Ratcliffe from University of
Oxford, UK, were able to demonstrate that low oxygen levels brought
a change in the structure of HIF that made it unrecognizable by
the HIF-destroying protein.
Having glimpsed
what Kaelin called ``the Holy Grail of how cells sense oxygen
changes and respond accordingly,'' researchers are now interested
in finding ways to influence the process of HIF activation.
Kaelin told
Reuters Health, ``There are clearly areas where you would want
to increase or to decrease angiogenesis (the creation of new blood
vessels in response to oxygen changes). We're beginning to look
at rational drugs that dial up or dial down HIF activity.'' Angiogenesis
is a key process in the development of cancer, as tumors use it
to create an adequate blood supply to grow ever larger.
As Drs. Hao
Zhu and H. Franklin Bunn from Harvard Medical School suggest in
a related commentary, this search could ultimately lead to drugs
that limit the growth and spread of cancer and enhance the recovery
from heart attacks or strokes. Much of the damage that occurs
from heart attacks or strokes are due to cell death caused by
a lack of oxygen.
SOURCE:
Sciencexpress 2001;10.1126.
Reference
Source 89
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
|
