Role of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) in the process of neurogenesis at the hippocampal level

Abstract

Hypoxia-induced factor 1 (HIF-1) plays a fundamental role in the response to low oxygen tension, since it regulates the expression of a wide variety of genes, whose products participate in processes such as angiogenesis, energy metabolism, erythropoiesis, and cell proliferation as well as in the process of neurogenesis, which involves various stages, such as proliferation of neuronal stem cells, migration, differentiation, survival of new neurons, and integration of the same. Among the many intrinsic and extrinsic molecular signals that regulate the production of new neurons from progenitor cells in the adult in the central nervous system (CNS), hypoxic damage plays an important role in the maintenance and function of stem cells in development and disease.