Dr. Peter Ratcliffe

Biography

Sir Peter Ratcliffe is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. His laboratory focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which cells sense and signal hypoxia, the deficiency of oxygen in tissues. Oxygen is fundamentally important for living organisms, and maintaining oxygen homeostasis poses a central physiological challenge for larger animals. Understanding the role of hypoxia is crucial, particularly concerning human diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, vascular disease, and anaemia. Ratcliffe's research began with the regulation of the haematopoietic growth factor erythropoietin, which is strongly upregulated in hypoxic conditions. His work has led to the discovery of underlying oxygen-sensitive signaling pathways relevant to mammalian cells and some invertebrates, which mediate a variety of transcriptional responses regulating angiogenesis and metabolism. Notably, Ratcliffe's laboratory defined the link between signal transduction and transcription factors, particularly the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), in the context of available oxygen. His research has uncovered the involvement of non-haem iron-dependent dioxygenases in the hydroxylation of specific residues to provide a mechanism of oxygen sensing at a molecular level. Collaboratively, Ratcliffe's team operates an extensive range of programs exploring the biological functions of 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) oxygenases, integrating approaches from protein biochemistry to cancer biology, with a specific interest in kidney cancer and the HIF signaling pathway.

Research Interests