Hypoxia and HIF-1 activation in bacterial infections

Publication date: Available online 27 November 2016
Source:Microbes and Infection
Author(s): Gayatri Devraj, Christiane Beerlage, Bernhard Brüne, Volkhard A.J. Kempf
For most of the living being, oxygen is one of the essential elements required to sustain life. Deprivation of oxygen causes tissue hypoxia and this affects host cell and organ functions severely. Tissue hypoxia is a prominent microenvironmental condition occurring in infections and there is a body of evidence that hypoxia and inflammation are interconnected with each other. The primary key factor mediating the mammalian hypoxic response is hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1, which regulates oxygen homeostasis on cellular, tissue and organism levels. Recent studies show that HIF-1 plays a central role in angiogenesis, cancer and cardiovascular disease but also in bacterial infections. Activation of HIF-1 depends on the nature of the pathogen and the characteristics of particular infections in certain hosts. Up to date, it is not completely clear whether the phenomenon of HIF-1 activation in infections has a protective or detrimental effect for the host. In this review, we give an overview whether and how hypoxia and HIF-1 affect the course of infections.



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