Transfection experiments in HepG2 cells showed that both hypoxia and overproduction of HIF-1alpha specifically repressed the transcriptional activity of the rat afp regulatory region through the sequence 5'-CACGTGGG-3' located at -3625 to -3619.
First, HIF-1 controls the expression of gene products that stimulate angiogenesis, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, and promote metabolic adaptation to hypoxia, such as glucose transporters and glycolytic enzymes, thus providing a molecular basis for involvement of HIF-1 in tumor growth and angiogenesis.
Overexpression of HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha was demonstrated in three HNSCC cell lines under hypoxia and tumor tissue versus normal tissue (n = 20, HIF-1alpha, P = 0.023; HIF-2alpha, P = 0.013).
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a heterodimeric transcription factor that regulates transcriptional activation of several genes that are responsive to oxygen lack, including erythropoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor, various glycolytic enzymes and the GLUT-1 glucose transporter.
Gel shift assays with a (32)P-labeled leptin promoter -116/HRE probe and nuclear extracts from hypoxia-treated cells indicated binding of the HIF1alpha/beta heterodimer, which was blocked with an excess of unlabeled -116/HRE probe or a HIF1-binding probe from the erythropoietin gene enhancer.
In human cancer cells, both intratumoral hypoxia and genetic alterations affecting signal transduction pathways lead to increased HIF-1 activity, which promotes angiogenesis, metabolic adaptation, and other critical aspects of tumor progression.
The results showed that, although hypoxia markedly increased ROS generation in HeEB1 cells but not in EB8 cells, EB8 cells showed essentially a normal response to hypoxia, as assessed by VEGF gene promoter activity, HIF-1alpha accumulation, and HIF-1 target gene expressions.
Primary meningioma cell cultures were established and cell culture experiments were performed using a hypoxia chamber to stimulate HIF-1alpha and VEGF production.
This process is mediated by stabilization of the transcriptional factor hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), which increases vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production.
Overexpression of HIF-1 alpha in normoxia induced the expression of a significant number of the hypoxia-dependent genes; however, it did not induce the pathophysiologic epithelial response.
These results provide an insight into a possible link of hypoxia or HIF-1alpha and leukemic cell differentiation, and are possibly of significance to explore clinical potentials of hypoxia or hypoxia-mimicking agents and novel target-based drugs for differentiation therapy of leukemia.
HUVECs were transfected with specific 21-nt small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes targeting HIF-1 alpha mRNA sequences or scrambled RNA duplexes and subjected either to normoxia for 251/2 h or to anoxia for 11/2 h, and subsequently normoxia for 24 h (A/R).
The pharmacological manipulation of HIF-1 has marked effects on tumour growth, and it could prove to be an important target for drug therapy, both in cancer and in other hypoxia-dependent disease states.
Our results provide evidence that regulation of TGF-beta3 promoter activity by HIF-1 represents a mechanism for trophoblast differentiation during hypoxia.
Our results provide persuasive evidence that the regulation of hTERT promoter activity by HIF-1 represents a mechanism for trophoblast growth during hypoxia and suggests that this may be a generalized response to hypoxia in various human disorders including resistance to cancer therapeutics by upregulating telomerase.
In conclusion, our data demonstrate that hyperglycemia impairs hypoxia-dependent protection of HIF-1alpha against proteasomal degradation and suggest a mechanism by which diabetes interferes with cellular responses to hypoxia.