Oxygen is the terminal electron acceptor in the Electron Transport Chain of mitochondria. It is therefore needed to maximize energy and ATP production. Hypoxia is the condition of low oxygen levels. Hypoxia and the body’s response to hypoxia play a role in multiple human diseases, including ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, COPD, and cancer. Understanding how tissues and cells respond to hypoxia is critical to the development of new therapeutic approaches for treating these diseases. It is also important to understand how diverse organisms evolved and adapted to hypoxic environments.

Questions About Hypoxia

How do cells sense hypoxia?

What are the factors that mediate a response to hypoxia?

Does hypoxia cause different effects in different types of tissue?

How does the hypoxic response operate holistically over multiple tissues?

What exactly is that response?

How does the response offset hypoxic damage?