Grant: Project Grant

Our cells and organs need oxygen from the air we breathe in order to survive. However, although air contains twenty percent oxygen, our cells are exposed to much lower levels. In addition, our cells are often deprived of oxygen in diseases such as stroke, heart disease and cancer. This lack of oxygen, known as hypoxia, leads to the tissue damage seen in these diseases. In important challenge in biomedical research is to understand how cells and organs can respond to, and cope, with low oxygen. We use the fruit fly as a model to address this question. Fruit flies naturally live in rotting fruit which is an environment characterized by low oxygen. Hence, they have evolved mechanisms to tolerate this hypoxia. Our work in the fly has identified the regulation of one enzyme - TOR kinase - as a mechanism by which cells adapt to low oxygen. The goal of this project grant is to use the ease and speed of fruit fly genetics to understand exactly how TOR controls the ability of tissues and organs to survive low oxygen. The fruit fly is proven as a 'lead' model system to discover new biological mechanisms that can guide work in other systems including human cells. For example, the TOR pathway is controlled the same way in human cells as in flies. In addition, TOR becomes deregulated in disorders such as cancer and heart disease. Hence our work will help identify how cells and organs can cope with hypoxia, and in doing so, will provide clues about the defects caused by disorders such as cancer and heart disease.