The California Society of Physiologists is hosting their annual meeting today at the University of California Davis campus!

Adapting to high altitude

The keynote address will be given this evening by Dr. Tatum Simonson (Associate Professor, University of California San Diego) who will speak about, “Variation in human responses to low oxygen: Insights from Mount Everest to Machu Picchu.” Together with Dr. Francisco Villafuerte (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru) and other collaborators, Dr. Simonson examined the genome of people living in these two high-altitude locations and discovered similar genetic variations in a gene called EPAS1, which is involved in hypoxia tolerance and associated with low hemoglobin concentrations in the blood. When lowlanders travel to high altitude, they adapt to the hypoxic conditions by producing more red blood cells to help carry oxygen. You can perhaps imagine how increased production of red blood cells (and hence increased hematocrit) may increase the risk for cardiovascular complications. It is thought that mutations in EPAS1 may help protect high altitude populations from developing hypoxia-related illnesses such as pulmonary hypertension. Interestingly, fish living in the depths of the ocean also have similar mutations.

Other highlights

Giovanna Selleghin Veiga, a visiting PhD student at UC Berkeley, who will speak about research examining hypoxia-induced stress responses in diving mammals with impressive breath-holding skills and hypoxia tolerance.

Ruby Crosthwait, a student worker at Keck School of Medicine, USC will talk about the putative anti-aging protein called “Klotho”. Animals missing this protein age rapidly and lose muscle mass whereas overexpression has been shown to increase longevity in animal models.

Sources

California Society of Physiologists

Lawrence et al., Functional EPAS1/HIF2A missence variant is associated with hematocrit in Andean highlanders. Science Advances. 10(6): eadj5661, 2024.

Cheikhi et al., Klotho: An elephant in aging research. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 74(7): 1031-1042, 2019.

Xu and Sun, Molecular basis of Klotho: From gene to function in aging. Endocr Rev. 36(2): 174-193, 2015.

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Categories: Aging, Comparative Physiology, Environment, Extreme Animals, Hibernation and Hypoxia, Nature's Solutions, Ocean Life, Physiology on the Road

Tags: Aging, California Society of Physiologists, Exercise, fitness, health, high altitude, hypoxia, science