RNA-seq from hypoxia pathway C. elegans mutants hif-1 (ia4) and vhl-1 (ok161)
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a pivotal three-dimensional network crucial for tissue organization, cellular communication, and fundamental cellular processes, where collagens are the major chemical entity in amount. Loss of pVHL is associated with the activation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling.  Mutation of VHL-1 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been shown to increase lifespan and stress resistance. Interestingly, considering recent findings on the involvement of collagens in the regulation of lifespan, we also observed these worms to show defects in body morphology in a HIF-1 dependent manner. Here we investigate the impact of vhl-1 (ok161) and hif-1 (ia4) individually and combined over the transcriptome of adult C. elegans worms grown under basal (20°C) conditions, and pay close attention to how genes related to body morphology, such as genes coding for collagens, are regulated.