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[Genetic cloning and expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha in high altitude hypoxic adaptation species Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii).] [Article in Chinese]

LIU Fang, Wuren Tana, MA Lan, YANG Ying-Zhong, GE Ri-Li^*

Research Center of High Altitude Medicine, Qinghai University Medical College, Xining 810001, China

Abstract

In order to investigate the role of the hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) in the adaptation mechanism to high altitude hypoxia, the cloning of the HIF-1α gene cDNA of Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), using RT-PCR and RACE, was applied, and the comparative analysis of the tissue-specific expressions of HIF-1α among Tibetan antelope, Tibetan sheep and plain sheep was performed using real-time PCR and Western blot. The sequence analysis indicated that the cDNA sequences acquired by cloning from the HIF-1α gene of Tibetan antelope comprised a 2 471-bp open reading frame (ORF) and a 1 911-bp 3’UTR. The similarity between its coding sequence, predicted amino acid sequence and HIF-1α of other mammals exceeded 87%, in which the similarity with cow was up to more than 98%, which showed that this sequence was the cDNA of HIF-1α of Tibetan antelope. The results of real-time PCR and Western blot showed that expressions of HIF-1α mRNA and protein appeared in Tibetan antelope’s lung, cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle, with the highest expression in lung. HIF-1α mRNA and protein had obvious differential expression in these tissues. Further research showed that Tibetan antelope and Tibetan sheep possessed higher expressions of HIF-1α protein in the three tissues above-mentioned compared with plain sheep, and the expressions of HIF-1α mRNA and protein in Tibetan antelope’s lung, cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle were higher than those of Tibetan sheep. It illustrates that the hypoxic HIF-1α-specific expression is one of the molecular bases of high altitude hypoxia adaptation in Tibetan antelope.

Key words: hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha; Tibetan antelope; genetic cloning; genetic expression; hypoxia adaptation

Received: 2011-05-19　　Accepted: 2011-08-04

Corresponding author: 格日力　　E-mail: geriligao@hotmail.com

Citing This Article：

LIU Fang, Wuren Tana, MA Lan, YANG Ying-Zhong, GE Ri-Li. [Genetic cloning and expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha in high altitude hypoxic adaptation species Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii).] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2011; 63 (6): 565-573 (in Chinese with English abstract).