Role of HIF and Prolyl-hydroxylase enzymes in ventilatory acclimatisation to hypoxia.

氧是大多数生命形式所必需的。即使是短暂的缺氧也会导致严重的组织损伤或死亡。在人体中，组织的氧气供应是由肺、心脏和血液供应的协调运作提供的。肺向血液中输送氧气的有效性由靠近大动脉的氧传感器（动脉化学感受器）监测。如果身体长时间处于低氧（缺氧）状态，这些化学感受器对缺氧逐渐变得更加敏感，并促进呼吸的持续增加。这个过程被称为通气适应，帮助我们适应环境中氧气供应的变化，比如当我们去高海拔地区时。事实上，这是许多适应中的一个，对于任何试图攀登高山的人来说都是必不可少的。类似的变化也发生在某些疾病状态，但在这些情况下，化学受体活性增强的效果并不总是理想的。因此，我们的研究旨在了解通风适应的机制。我们特别希望检验这样一种假设，即基因表达的氧依赖性控制，与在缺氧情况下导致红细胞数量增加的过程非常相似，也控制着化学受体的敏感性。

Oxygen is essential for most forms of life. Even brief periods without oxygen can cause serious tissue damage or death. In humans the supply of oxygen to tissues is provided by the coordinated operation of lungs, heart & blood supply. The effectiveness with which the lungs load oxygen into the blood is monitored by oxygen sensors located close to major arteries (arterial chemoreceptors). If the body is subject to low levels of oxygen (hypoxia) for prolonged periods of time these chemoreceptors become progressively more sensitive to the lack of oxygen and promote a sustained increase in breathing. This process, called ventilatory acclimatisation, helps us to adapt to changes in environmental oxygen availability such as occur when we go to altitude. Indeed this is one of a number of adaptations that are essential for anyone attempting the assent of very high mountains. Similar changes also occur in some disease states but under these circumstances the effects of enhanced chemoreceptor activity are not always desirable. Our research therefore seeks to understand the mechanisms responsible for ventilatory acclimatisation. In particular we wish to test the hypothesis that oxygen dependent control of gene expression, a process very similar to that which gives rise to increase in the number of red blood cells in hypoxia, also controls chemoreceptor sensitivity.