Hypoxia Pathway

Hypoxia in tumors is closely associated with tumor aggressiveness and resistance to radio- and chemotherapeutic treatment. Therefore, reliable markers for hypoxia represent both valuable diagnostic markers and potential targets for investigation. When oxygen becomes limited, prolyl hydroxylase is inhibited which leads to HIF-α accumulation and translocation to the nucleus. HIF-α then dimerizes with HIF-β and interacts with cofactors such as p300/CBP and the Pol II complex to activate the hypoxia-response elements (HRE), which activate transcription of various genes including VEGFA, GLUT1, and CA9.