Using and adjusting the oxygen is the basic condition for higher organisms. Three British and American scientists, William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza, won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2019 for discovering the mechanisms by which cells sense and adapt to the oxygen. They have found that the hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), an important transcription factor, is widely distributed in chronic hypoxic cells and promotes cells to adapt to the hypoxia. The HIF-1 level is regulated by the oxygen content. Under the high oxygen condition, the HIF-1 is degraded after its modification. Conversely, under the low oxygen condition, the HIF-1 is not degraded and promotes the expression of the hypoxia related genes such as the erythropoietin through the transcriptional regulation. This paper reviews the discovery and the basic molecular mechanism of the HIF-1, as well as its clinical application values.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019  /  hypoxia adaption  /  hypoxia-inducible factors 1