ETD

Archivio digitale delle tesi discusse presso l'Università di Pisa

Tesi etd-09022022-143954


Tipo di tesi
Tesi di laurea magistrale
Autore
DEL CHIARO, ALESSIA
URN
etd-09022022-143954
Titolo
CHANGING THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION: REROUTING HIF1α OXYGEN-DEPENDENT REGULATION TO THE N-DEGRON PATHWAY
Dipartimento
BIOLOGIA
Corso di studi
BIOTECNOLOGIE MOLECOLARI
Relatori
relatore Prof.ssa Giuntoli, Beatrice
relatore Prof.ssa Masson, Norma
relatore Prof. Licausi, Francesco
Parole chiave
  • oxygen sensing
  • hypoxia
  • HIF
  • N-degron pathway
Data inizio appello
19/09/2022
Consultabilità
Non consultabile
Data di rilascio
19/09/2092
Riassunto
Oxygen is an essential element for life and the ability to monitor and respond promptly to molecular oxygen (O2) fluctuations is crucial for survival of all aerobic life forms. Oxygen participates in numerous cellular reactions and its major role is to act as final electron acceptor in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, sustaining cellular bioenergetics. Accordingly, a drop in O2 levels constitutes a severe stress factor, that can put cellular survival at risk. Therefore, eukaryotes evolved oxygen sensing mechanisms to monitor the intracellular O2 concentration and that can trigger the adaptive response to maintain homeostasis. Animals and plants, the two eukaryotic kingdoms displaying the greater biological complexity, have both evolved oxygen-sensing mechanisms relying on the oxygen-dependent activity of dioxygenases enzymes, which post-translationally modify transcriptional factors to modulate their turnover. A shortage of molecular oxygen impairs the dioxygenase activity, resulting in the stabilisation of the transcriptional activators, which can migrate into the nucleus and initiate the extensive reprogramming of gene expression to promote cellular adaptation to hypoxia. In view of the primary role that oxygen sensing mechanisms play in supporting cellular survival, this study investigates the drivers behind oxygen sensing evolution in animals and plants, with the aim of identifying similarities and differences and possibly paving the way for the introduction of heterologous systems for oxygen sensing.

File