HypOxygen and Don Whitley Scientific are sponsoring a series of Keystone Symposia dealing with tumor micro environment (Vancouver), mitochondria and metabolism (Santa Fe), and immunity and inflammation (Olympic Valley). We are interested in the research being presented at these conferences because physiologically normoxic conditions in all these fields are at much lower oxygen tension (<5%) than ambient. So when cell culture and incubation are carried out at 21%, the cells are being blasted with oxygen that really prevents any sort of physiologically correct behavior at a cellular and sub cellular level.
Tumors with their rapidly growing cell populations create an hypoxic microenvironment that influences drug efficacy and radio resistance. Metabolism in such hypoxic regions shifts from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis. Hypoxia is sensed by the mitochondria and prompts increased production of ROS, which induces HIF pathways. Effectively, the low oxygen typical of all tissues segues into hypoxia indicative of and intrinsic to pathways in cancer, inflammation, and diabetes. The only way to faithfully replicate temperature as well as oxygen parameters necessary to the cells' relative well-being is to use a hypoxia workstation for cell culture.
Ancestral pueblo pottery, About 800-1000 years old. Picture by Dr. Burga Kalz-Fuller of HypOxygen, while visiting Santa Fe, NM during a Keystong Symposia.
