Effect of Oxygen on Cardiac Differentiation in Mouse iPS Cells: Role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 and Wnt/Beta-Catenin Signaling

Background Disturbances in oxygen levels have been found to impair cardiac organogenesis. It is known that stem cells and differentiating cells may respond variably to hypoxic conditions, whereby hypoxia may enhance stem cell pluripotency, while differentiation of multiple cell types can be restricted or enhanced under hypoxia. Here we examined whether HIF-1alpha modulated Wnt signaling affected differentiation of iPS cells into beating cardiomyocytes.