Editor's Summary

21 February 2008

Countering ischaemia

The transcriptional regulator PGC-1 mediates many of the effects of exercise on skeletal muscle, including mitochondrial biogenesis and fibre-type switching. Now this protein has been found to activate a natural defence pathway that protects ischaemic tissues. PGC-1 is produced in response to hypoxia and nutrient deprivation, and it in turn induces VEGF to promote blood vessel formation. This pathway is separate from the hypoxia response pathway involving hypoxia inducible factor and may provide a novel therapeutic target for treating ischaemic diseases of the heart, brain and limbs.

Letter: HIF-independent regulation of VEGF and angiogenesis by the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1

Zoltan Arany, Shi-Yin Foo, Yanhong Ma, Jorge L. Ruas, Archana Bommi-Reddy, Geoffrey Girnun, Marcus Cooper, Dina Laznik, Jessica Chinsomboon, Shamina M. Rangwala, Kwan Hyuck Baek, Anthony Rosenzweig & Bruce M. Spiegelman

doi:10.1038/nature06613

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