The O'Farrell lab at UCSF
Hypoxia & NO Research


From the seminal paper: under hypoxia, larvae extract themselves from a food source and wander (see Wingrove, 1999)
Organisms from bacteria to man adapt to shortfalls in oxygen supply (hypoxia). The responses triggered by hypoxia influences survival in these organisms and has important health consequences in humans. For example, hypoxia is a key factor to injury associated with stroke and heart attack, and the availability of oxygen is a critical factor in tumor growth.

We found that Drosophila tolerates prolonged and severe hypoxia. Hypoxia elicits changes in the animal's behaviours and reversibly arrests both development and the cell cycle. Additionally, we implicated nitric oxide (NO) in the responses to hypoxia, and identified other factors that influence the ability of an organisms and cells to withstand prolonged periods of hypoxia.

Our recent studies have focussed on the roles and mechanisms of action of both NO and NO synthase (NOS). Drosophila provides a powerful model system in which to investigate NO signalling, allowing us to combine genetic and molecular approaches.

 
      · Cell Cycle     · Mitochondria     · Hypoxia & NO     · Innate Immunity
 
 
 

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