Diminished oxygen supply to tissues (hypoxia) can stem from many sources, a
nd is a contributing factor to diverse disease processes. Cell and tissue r
esponses to hypoxia are diverse and include dramatic changes in metabolic d
emand, regulation of cellular gene products, and release of lipid and prote
in mediators. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to targeted devel
opment of therapeutics for hypoxia-related disease processes. This review w
ill focus on recent advances in cellular and molecular biology pertaining t
o the hypoxia response, and will discuss paradigms used to study hypoxia an
d the potential targets for therapeutic intervention.