Gene expression profile of HIF-1α silenced or non-silenced human DCs stimulated with A. fumigatus under normoxic or hypoxic conditions

DCs play a central role for the immune response against the mold Aspergillus fumigatus. Hypoxic microenvironments occur during infection with A. fumigatus. Hypoxia and signaling via hypoxia inducible factor 1α may modulate the response of DCs; however, the role in fungal infections is unclear. We used microarrays to determine the influence of hypoxia and HIF-1α signaling on the immune response of human DCs towards A. fumigatus. HIF-1α silenced or non-silenced, human monocyte-derived DCs were cultivated for 6 h in normoxia or hypoxia (1 % O2) without stimulation or stimulated with inactivated germ tubes of A. fumigatus. Three independent experiments with DCs derived from different blood donors were performed. RNA was extracted and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.