Histone H2AX is integral to hypoxia-driven neovascularization.

ABSTRACT: H2A histone family member X (H2AX, encoded by H2AFX) and its C-terminal phosphorylation (gamma-H2AX) participates in the DNA damage response and mediates DNA repair. Hypoxia is a physiological stress that induces a replication-associated DNA damage response. Moreover, hypoxia is the major driving force for neovascularization, as the hypoxia-mediated induction of vascular growth factors triggers endothelial cell proliferation. Here we studied the role of the hypoxia-induced DNA damage response in endothelial cell function and in hypoxia-driven neovascularization in vivo. Hypoxia induced replication-associated generation of gamma-H2AX in endothelial cells in vitro and in mice. Both in cultured cells and in mice, endothelial cell proliferation under hypoxic conditions was reduced by H2AX defi

SUBMITTER: Economopoulou M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2713773 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature