Maintenance of oxygen homeostasis is critical for the survival of multicellular organs. As a
result, both invertebrates and vertebrates have developed highly specialized mechanisms to
sense changes in oxygen levels and to mount adequate cellular and systemic responses to
these changes. Hypoxia, or low oxygen tension, occurs in physiological situations such as
during embryonic development, as well as in pathological conditions such as ischemia,
wound healing, and cancer. A primary effector of the adaptive response to hypoxia in …