title: Dimerization, DNA binding, and transactivation properties of hypoxia-inducible factor 1.
abstract: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a heterodimeric basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that regulates hypoxia-inducible genes including the human erythropoietin (EPO) gene. In this study, we report structural features of the HIF-1alpha subunit that are required for heterodimerization, DNA binding, and transactivation. The HIF-1alpha and HIF-1beta (ARNT; aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator) subunits were coimmunoprecipitated from nuclear extracts, indicating that these proteins heterodimerize in the absence of DNA. In vitro-translated HIF-1alpha and HIF-1beta generated a HIF-1/DNA complex with similar electrophoretic mobility and sequence specificity as HIF-1 present in nuclear extracts from hypoxic cells. Compared to 826-amino acid, full-length HIF-1alpha, amino acids 1-166 mediated heterodimerization with HIF-1beta (ARNT), but amino acids 1-390 were required for optimal DNA binding. A deletion involving the basic domain of HIF-1alpha eliminated DNA binding without affecting heterodimerization. In cotransfection assays, forced expression of recombinant HIF-1alpha and HIF-1beta (ARNT) activated transcription of reporter genes containing EPO enhancer sequences with intact, but not mutant, HIF-1 binding sites. Deletion of the carboxy terminus of HIF-1alpha (amino acids 391-826) markedly decreased the ability of recombinant HIF-1 to activate transcription. Overexpression of a HIF-1alpha construct with deletions of the basic domain and carboxy terminus blocked reporter gene activation by endogenous HIF-1 in hypoxic cells.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287-3914, USA.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rue
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roe
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Semenza
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D006801:Humans; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011485:Protein Binding; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000737:chemistry; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA