Research advances on the relationship between hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α and renal interstitial fibrosis

Renal interstitial fibrosis （RIF） is the primary pathological basis and the ultimate common pathway for the progression of various chronic progressive kidney diseases into end-stage renal disease （ESRD）. Hypoxia is regarded as a major microenvironmental factor in the development of renal interstitial fibrosis. And hypoxia-inducible factor （HIF） is a key regulator of oxygen metabolism. HIF-1α regulates fibrotic process through inducing cell cycle arrest, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and crosstalking with classical pro-fibrotic signaling pathways. This review summarized the relationship between HIF-1α and RIF and focused upon its mechanism of action to explore the therapeutic feasibility of targeting HIF-1α for RIF.