Vascular endothelial growth factor signaling in hypoxia and inflammation.

Infection, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are the major causes for morbidity and mortality in the United States according to the Center for Disease Control. The underlying etiology that contributes to the severity of these diseases is either hypoxia induced inflammation or inflammation resulting in hypoxia. Therefore, molecular mechanisms that regulate hypoxia-induced adaptive responses in cells are important areas of investigation. Oxygen availability is sensed by molecular switches which regulate synthesis and secretion of growth factors and inflammatory mediators. As a consequence, tissue microenvironment is altered by re-programming metabolic pathways, angiogenesis, vascular permeability, pH homeostasis to facilitate tissue remodeling. Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) is the central mediator of hypoxic response. HIF regulates several hundred genes and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the primary target genes. Understanding the regulation of HIF and its influence on inflammatory response offers unique opportunities for drug development to modulate inflammation and ischemia in pathological conditions.