Cellular and developmental control of O₂ homeostasis by hypoxia-inducible factor 1α

Abstract

Hypoxia is an essential developmental and physiological stimulus that plays a key role in the pathophysiology of cancer, heart attack, stroke, and other major causes of mortality. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is the only known mammalian transcription factor expressed uniquely in response to physiologically relevant levels of hypoxia. We now report that in Hif1a −/− embryonic stem cells that did not express the O 2 -regulated HIF-1␣ subunit, levels of mRNAs encoding glucose transporters and glycolytic enz…