Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) in Rheumatology: Low O2! See what HIF can do!

Timo Gaber ¹, René Dziurla ¹, Robert Tripmacher ¹, Gerd R Burmester ¹ and Frank Buttgereit ^1*

¹ Dept of Rheumatology & Immunology, Germany

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: frank.buttgereit{at}charite.de.

Accepted 14 March 2005

Abstract

Maintenance of oxygen homeostasis represents the basic principle in cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and function in all higher organisms. From the nematode worm (C. elegans) to man, the transcription factor, HIF (hypoxia inducible factor) plays a central role in oxygen homeostasis, and is indispensably linked to energy metabolism. Abnormally reduced oxygen concentrations that lead to a dysfunctional cell metabolism, have been found in cancer and various ischemic and inflammatory diseases. Since the 1970s the hypoxic nature of the inflamed synovium has been characterized in rheumatoid arthritis, the most common inflammatory arthritis, and hence, the molecular adaptive responses to hypoxia became more interesting. In particular, the identification and characterization of HIF in the past decade established a new landmark in the knowledge of the adaptive oxygen response and implicated HIF in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Keywords: energy metabolism, hypoxia, hypoxia inducible factor, oxygen homeostasis, rheumatoid arthritis

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