Have you ever thought about the varying conditions our cells have to contend with on a day to day basis? Each time a cell is subject to a change in the environment, they need to adapt accordingly. An example of this is their ability to adapt to low-oxygen conditions, known as hypoxia. If they are unable to adapt to hypoxic conditions, it can be detrimental. For example, hypoxic conditions can cause differentiation of placental cells. Hypoxia can also be a major factor that leads to cardiovascular diseases, and can also accelerate the growth of tumors. It is therefore important for cells to be able to respond to hypoxia and they do so through what is known as a transcriptional response. Transcriptional responses are controlled by transcriptional factors which are specific proteins that can turn genes "on" or "off" as a result of binding to certain areas on DNA [1].

It is known that the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway is a major transcriptional response when round worms experience hypoxia. However, there are instances where one can see transcriptional hypoxic responses for which this pathway is unable to explain. Padmanabha et al (2015), looks at what exactly is responsible for this.

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Experiments
  • The mediator that functions when the HIF-1 pathway is taken away
  • What can be used to mimic hypoxic responses in round worms?
  • Is the F45D3.4 gene simply being activated because it is responding to a general stressor?
  • What is causing the F45D3.4 gene to be expressed?
  • Is blmp-1 mediating hypoxic responsiveness?
  • How does blmp-1 affect round worms in vivo?
  • How does blmp-1 work?
• Implications
  • HIF-1 Independent Mediator
  • Future Investigations
• Support pages
  • qPCR
  • Visualizing genes with GFP under the microscope
  • RNAi

References:

1. Transcription factors. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/gene-regulation/gene-regulation-in-eukaryotes/a/eukaryotic-transcription-factors