Faculty Advisor
Dominko, Tanja
Abstract
It has been found that hypoxia is an advantageous condition for the culture of pluripotent stem cells. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), are transcription factors involved in the mediation of a hypoxic response. HIF has downstream gene targets that have implications in pluripotency. The current research attempts to characterize their activity in human adult fibroblasts. Specifically, it aims to determine if HIFs are responsive to hypoxia in fibroblasts and whether their regulation is affected at transcriptional, translational or post-translational levels. Further, HIF localization was examined as an implication of protein function. It was found that HIFs are expressed in fibroblasts, but the hypoxic response is different than observed in human embryonic stem cells.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
April 2011
Major
Biology and Biotechnology
Major
Psychological Science
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Biology and Biotechnology