title: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) protein is rapidly degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system under normoxic conditions. Its stabilization by hypoxia depends on redox-induced changes.
abstract: The hypoxia-inducible factor 1 transcriptional activator complex (HIF-1) is involved in the activation of the erythropoietin and several other hypoxia-responsive genes. The HIF-1 complex is composed of two protein subunits: HIF-1beta/ARNT (aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator), which is constitutively expressed, and HIF-1alpha, which is not present in normal cells but induced under hypoxic conditions. The HIF-1alpha subunit is continuously synthesized and degraded under normoxic conditions, while it accumulates rapidly following exposure to low oxygen tensions. The involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in the proteolytic destruction of HIF-1 in normoxia was studied by the use of specific inhibitors of the proteasome system. Lactacystin and MG-132 were found to protect the degradation of the HIF-1 complex in cells transferred from hypoxia to normoxia. The same inhibitors were able to induce HIF-1 complex formation when added to normoxic cells. Final confirmation of the involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in the regulated degradation of HIF-1alpha was obtained by the use of ts20TGR cells, which contain a temperature-sensitive mutant of E1, the ubiquitin-activating enzyme. Exposure of ts20 cells, under normoxic conditions, to the non-permissive temperature induced a rapid and progressive accumulation of HIF-1. The effect of proteasome inhibitors on the normoxic induction of HIF-1 binding activity was mimicked by the thiol reducing agent N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine and by the oxygen radical scavenger 2-acetamidoacrylic acid. Furthermore, N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine induced gene expression as measured by the stimulation of a HIF-1-luciferase expression vector and by the induction of erythropoietin mRNA in normoxic Hep 3B cells. These last findings strongly suggest that the hypoxia induced changes in HIF-1alpha stability and subsequent gene activation are mediated by redox-induced changes.
authors.affiliation: Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research, Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107-5099, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salceda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caro
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014452:Ubiquitins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014452:Ubiquitins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex