Neutrophil and Macrophage Response to Hypoxia in the Context of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases

Neutrophils and macrophages are the first line of defense against pathogens. They have the ability to eradicate
pathogens in an environment with inflammation and hypoxia. How these cells adapt to that environment is
something that has been studied for several years now. HIF-1α is the main orchestrator to maintain this cells
functional in hypoxia, and more recently is have established that HIF-1α can be stabilized by bacterial antigens in
the absence of hypoxia via NF-κB, making HIF-1α a key protein in the innate immune response. Using HIF-1 as a
therapeutic target requires knowing the pathogen that is causing the infection and whether this infection is local or
systemic. In this review we gathered information about this issue to understand how these cells remain functional in
this type of environment where you have a pathogen, inflammation and hypoxia.