DMMC Course: MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY IN ACTION

1110-1230 Monday 7 February 2005. Conway Institute Lecture Theatre, UCD

Hypoxic gene regulation in pulmonary disease Dr John Baugh, UCD

Hypoxemia is a serious consequence of decreased lung function or decreased atmospheric oxygen availability and is thus both an important component of many respiratory diseases and a risk for the healthy travelling to high altitude. Similarly, regional tissue hypoxia can result from decreased oxygen supply or increased oxygen demand, for example blood vessel damage or occlusion, in contrast to a poorly-vascularised solid tumour. This seminar will discuss the molecular responses to hypoxia, focussing on HIF-1 target genes and tissue remodelling in the lung. The contribution of regional hypoxia to the exacerbation of inflammatory lung disease as well as the physiological response of the lung to hypoxemia and the development of pulmonary hypertension will be set in context to the molecular responses of a cell to insufficient oxygen availability.