Abstract: Endoplasmic reticulum stress, an critical component of cell stress, is a protective response for eukaryotic cells. The change of partial pressure of oxygen (for instance hypoxia) is a primary condition for cell stress, significantly impacting the biological phenotype and behavior of cells (including survival, migration and invasion et.al). Through endoplasmic reticulum stress, intracellular concentration of unfolded protein is reduced, and agglutination inhibited. Recently, endoplasmic reticulum stress has been demonstrated to play an important role in pathogenesis of some diseases such as cancer, diabetes and inflammation, which are characterized by the micro-environment hypoxia in local tissue. Therefore, investigations on the mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum stress caused by hypoxia may promote the novel therapeutic strategy for tumors, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Key words: Hypoxia, endoplasmic reticulum stress, unfolded protein response