HIF-2alpha, but not HIF-1alpha, promotes iron absorption in mice.

ABSTRACT: HIF transcription factors (HIF-1 and HIF-2) are central mediators of cellular adaptation to hypoxia. Because the resting partial pressure of oxygen is low in the intestinal lumen, epithelial cells are believed to be mildly hypoxic. Having recently established a link between HIF and the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin, we hypothesized that HIFs, stabilized in the hypoxic intestinal epithelium, may also play critical roles in regulating intestinal iron absorption. To explore this idea, we first established that the mouse duodenum, the site of iron absorption in the intestine, is hypoxic and generated conditional knockout mice that lacked either Hif1a or Hif2a specifically in the intestinal epithelium. Using these mice, we found that HIF-1alpha was not necessary for iron absorption, whereas

SUBMITTER: Mastrogiannaki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2673882 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature