Microvascular endothelial cells provide a critical regulatory interface between blood constituents and tissue. Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a key transcription factor required for expression of hypoxia-dependent genes. We employed a model of hypoxia and reoxygenation (H/R) using the dermal microvascular endothelial cell line HMEC-1 to examine the effects of altered oxygen concentrations on microvascular HIF-1 expression and nitric oxide (NO) formation. Hypoxia increased inducible NO synthase (iNOS) mRNA in a time-dependent manner in HMEC-1. However, endothelial NO synthase mRNA progressively declined during hypoxia. H/R promoted significant increases in cellular nitrite levels that were significantly abrogated by the specific iNOS inhibitor N6-(1-iminoethyl)-L-lysine, di hy drochloride. Exogenous NO promoted stabilization of the alpha subunit of HIF-1 and produced functional DNA binding. Exposure of HMEC-1 to H/R resulted in previously unrecognized biphasic HIF-1alpha stabilization during reoxygenation. When the iNOS gene was silenced through the use of iNOS-specific small interfering RNA, HIF-1alpha stabilization and HIF-1 activation were dramatically diminished, suggesting that inducible NOS-derived NO is a key factor sustaining HIF-1 activation during both hypoxia and reoxygenation.