Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Adaptation to Hypoxia and the Role of Ischemic and Anesthetic Preconditioning. Implications for the Anesthetist

Cell protection against hypoxia can be mediated by brief periods of sublethal ischemia, a phenomenon called ‘preconditioning’. The molecular mechanisms that are responsible for cell protection are extremely complicated; however, extensive research in molecular biology and cellular physiology has uncovered many different signaling pathways, especially in cardiac tissues.