HIF1A ChIP-seq from primary human uterine smooth muscle cells (hMSMCs) in hypoxia

Uterine contraction, crucial for successful labor, has been proved to be enchanced by hypoxia, which underlying mechanisms are yet to be elucidated. We found blockade of HIF-1a caused contractility decrease in myometrium and myocytes in hypoxic models. ChIP-seq revealed that HIF-1α directly bound to gemone of 2 typical contraction-associated proteins, the promoter of GJA1 and intron of OXTR. Blockade of GJA1 led to significant decrease of myometrial contractions under hypoxic tissue model, whereas atosiban did not influence the contractility. The conducted research suggests that HIF-1α is required for the augmentation of myometrial contractility via regulating GJA1 under hypoxia. Examination of HIF1a binding sites in primary human uterine smooth muscle cells under hypoxia condition