Abstract
Postnatal neovascularization is triggered by tissue hypoxia and the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor dependent upregulation of vascular growth factors. At the same time hypoxia is associated with replication stress and can induce a cellular DNA repair response including the phosphorylation of histone H2AX. Recent findings point to a role of H2AX in endothelial cell proliferation under hypoxia and thereby in hypoxia-driven neovascularization.