HIF-1 and Age-Related Impairment of Neovascularization in Regeneration

Hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is known to be important in skin aging, involved in the regulation of numerous processes relevant to the maintenance and structure of skin tissue. One of these is the growth of blood vessels that is required for regeneration to take place following injury. The dysfunction of HIF-1 signaling and consequent dysfunction in blood vessel regrowth is a feature of the varieties of non-healing wounds that are observed in older people. The open access paper here reviews what is known of HIF-1 in this context. Oxygen is key to many processes of life and is involved in all stages of wound healing in the skin, with many cells and pathways being reactive to changes in oxygen concentration. Following injury to the skin, disruption of the vasculature results in a hypoxic environment, which is further exacerbated by high oxygen consumption through the cells present at the edge of the wound. Hypoxia has been found to have myriad effects on cells and their function, such as inducing greater dermal fibroblast proliferation and production of TGF-β1. Furthermore, hypoxia has been shown to promote in vitro keratinocyte motility and leads to the secretion of several growth factors. These are but a few of the many roles acute hypoxia plays in the induction of skin healing, and although hypoxia is necessary for regeneration, a return to normoxic conditions is eventually required. With hypoxia being of such importance to regeneration of the skin, the...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs