The doctoral dissertation in the field of Cardiovascular Genomics will be examined at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Kuopio Campus. The public examination will be streamed online.
A recent doctoral dissertation by Oscar Liu at the University of Eastern Finland explores how oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) alters gene expression and chromatin structure in cardiovascular tissues and cells. While hypoxia plays a normal role in development and adaptation, it is also central to diseases such as myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis.
Using a porcine ischemia heart model and state-of-the-art genomic tools, Liu and colleagues identified how hypoxia reshapes the transcriptional landscape, uncovering specific gene and non-coding RNA signatures involved in inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and vascular repair. The study focused particularly on lysine demethylases (KDMs), a group of enzymes that modify chromatin and influence gene activity.
The findings show that KDMs are activated during atherosclerosis and in response to hypoxia in multiple cardiovascular cell types, including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and cardiomyocytes. Mechanistically, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1α and HIF-2α) drive the transcriptional activation of KDMs, affecting chromatin regions linked to angiogenesis. Two enzymes—KDM4B and KDM6B—were shown to regulate VEGF-A expression and promote endothelial cell function and new vessel formation.
This research deepens our understanding of how hypoxia drives gene regulation in cardiovascular disease and highlights KDM enzymes as potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
The doctoral dissertation of Oscar Liu, MSc, entitled Hypoxia-mediated regulation of transcription and epigenetics in cardiovascular tissues and cellswill be examined at the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Opponent in the public examination will be Professor Peppi Karppinen of the University of Oulu, and the Custos will be Professor Minna Kaikkonen-Määttä of the University of Eastern Finland. The public examination will be held in English.
For further information, please contact:
Oscar Liu, MSc, [email protected]
