A genetic mechanism for Tibetan high-altitude adaptation.
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Lorenzo FR, Huff C, Myllymaki M, Olenchock B, Swierczek S, Tashi T, Gordeuk V, Wuren T, Ri-Li G, McClain DA, Khan TM, Koul PA, Guchhait P, Salama ME, Xing J, Semenza GL, Liberzon E, Wilson A, Simonson TS, Jorde LB, Kaelin WG Jr, Koivunen P, Prchal JT
A genetic mechanism for Tibetan high-altitude adaptation.
Nat Genet. 2014 Sep;46(9):951-6. doi: 10.1038/ng.3067. Epub 2014 Aug 17.
- PubMed ID
- 25129147 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Tibetans do not exhibit increased hemoglobin concentration at high altitude. We describe a high-frequency missense mutation in the EGLN1 gene, which encodes prolyl hydroxylase 2 (PHD2), that contributes to this adaptive response. We show that a variant in EGLN1, c.[12C>G; 380G>C], contributes functionally to the Tibetan high-altitude phenotype. PHD2 triggers the degradation of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which mediate many physiological responses to hypoxia, including erythropoiesis. The PHD2 p.[Asp4Glu; Cys127Ser] variant exhibits a lower K(m) value for oxygen, suggesting that it promotes increased HIF degradation under hypoxic conditions. Whereas hypoxia stimulates the proliferation of wild-type erythroid progenitors, the proliferation of progenitors with the c.[12C>G; 380G>C] mutation in EGLN1 is significantly impaired under hypoxic culture conditions. We show that the c.[12C>G; 380G>C] mutation originated approximately 8,000 years ago on the same haplotype previously associated with adaptation to high altitude. The c.[12C>G; 380G>C] mutation abrogates hypoxia-induced and HIF-mediated augmentation of erythropoiesis, which provides a molecular mechanism for the observed protection of Tibetans from polycythemia at high altitude.