The present invention provides hypoxia inducible factor alpha muteins, DNA sequences encoding these hypoxia inducible factor alpha muteins, recombinant DNA molecules containing those DNA sequences operatively linked to expression control sequences and capable of inducing expression of an hypoxia inducible factor alpha muteins, hosts transformed with those recombinant DNA molecules, pharmaceutical compositions containing hypoxia inducible factor alpha muteins and methods of using those compositions to treat hypoxia and ischemic related tissue damage.