From critters to cancers: bridging comparative and clinical research on oxygen sensing, HIF signaling, and adaptations towards hypoxia

The objective of this symposium at the First International Congress of Respiratory Biology (ICRB) was to enhance communication between comparative biologists and cancer researchers working on O(2) sensing via the HIF pathway. Representatives from both camps came together on August 13-16, 2006, in Bonn, Germany, to discuss molecular adaptations that occur after cells have been challenged by a reduced (hypoxia) or completely absent (anoxia) supply of oxygen. This brief "critters-to-cancer" survey discusses current projects and new directions aimed at improving understanding of hypoxic signaling and developing therapeutic interventions.

Environmentally driven changes in Baltic salmon oxidative status during marine migration.

The fitness and recruitment of fish stocks can be markedly affected by environmental disturbances including global warming, eutrophication and contamination. Understanding the effects of environmental stressors on salmon physiology during marine residence is of a global concern as marine survival has decreased. We present a unique combination of physiological responses - antioxidant defence and oxidative damage biomarkers, stable isotopes and contaminant exposure biomarkers - measured from adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) collected at the Baltic Sea and studied in relation to environmental variables and fitness estimates. The results demonstrate that feeding populations of salmon display…

Stock-specific variation of trophic position, diet and environmental stress markers in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar during feeding migrations in the Baltic Sea.

This study investigated stock-specific variation in selected ecophysiological variables during the feeding migrations of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in the Baltic Sea. Oxidative stress biomarkers and EROD (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, Cyp1A enzyme) activity were used as indicators of possible environmental stress and stable isotopes as determinants of diet and trophic position. Latvian S. salar stocks Daugava and Gauja had distinct stable-isotope signatures compared to the other stocks, indicating differences in migration patterns, residency or arrival times, or dietary specialization among stocks. Salmo salar originating from Daugava and Gauja also had lower catalase enzyme activity than …

Oxidative stress biomarkers in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus from the northern Baltic Sea : effects of hydrographic factors and chemical contamination

Forest management is associated with physiological stress in an old–growth forest passerine

We investigated how physiological stress in an area-sensitive old-growth forest passerine, the Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris), is associated with forest fragmentation and forest structure. We found evidence that the concentrations of plasma corticosterone in chicks were higher under poor food supply in dense, young forests than in sparse, old forests. In addition, nestlings in large forest patches had lower corticosterone levels and a better body condition than in small forest patches. In general, corticosterone levels were negatively related to body condition and survival. We also found a decrease in corticosterone levels within the breeding season, which may have been a result …