[Energy power in mountains: difference in metabolism pattern results in different adaption traits in Tibetans]

Energy metabolism plays an important role in life survival for species living in high altitude hypoxia condition. Air-breathing organisms require oxygen to create energy. Tibetans are the well-adapted highlanders in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It was thought that different metabolic approaches could lead to different adaptation traits to high altitude hypoxia. Recently identified hypoxia inducible factors pathway regulators, endothelial PAS domain protein1 (EPAS1)/HIF-2a and PPARA, were involved in decreasing hemoglobin concentrations in Tibetans. Because EPAS1 and PPARA also modulated the energy metabolism during hypoxia, we hypothesized that positive selected EPAS1 and PPARA genes were also involved in unique energy metabolisms in Tibetans. In this brief review, we take a look into genetic determinations to energy metabolisms for hypoxia adaptations traits in Tibetans and mal-adaptive conditions such as high altitude diseases.