The Roles of Hypoxia-inducible Factors: Potential Clinical Target in Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the top causes of death in many countries, and hypoxia is an important factor in the emergence of CVDs. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are the essential transcription components responsible for responding to hypoxic opinions, and HIF and its family coordinate the assembly of multiple proteins to regulate HIF pathways, such as the metabolism of glycolysis, the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, the control of reactive oxygen species, and angiogenesis. According to the duration of inducible hypoxia in CVDs, acute and chronic oxygen deprivation conditions are distinguished. Four typical CVDs, atherosclerosis, and myocardial ischemia as examples of acute hypoxic conditions, and pulmonary hypertension and heart failure as examples of chronic hypoxic states, were chosen to demonstrate that the HIF and its related pathways play important roles in pathogenesis, cellular metabolism, and clinical application. This paper aims to enhance treatment options for medical diagnosis by examining the molecular control of HIFs in CVDs. To further understand the regulation of cellular reactions and the hypoxic-related signaling pathways concerned, HIF could be researched as a novel potential medical target for treating and preventing CVDs.