Inhibitory PAS domain protein (IPAS) is a hypoxia-inducible splicing variant of the hypoxia-inducible factor-3alpha locus.
The inhibitory PAS (Per/Arnt/Sim) domain protein, IPAS, functions as a dominant negative regulator of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) by forming complexes with those proteins that fail to bind to hypoxia response elements of target genes. We have previously observed that IPAS is predominantly expressed in mice in Purkinje cells of the cerebellum and in corneal epithelium of the eye where it appears to play a role in negative regulation of angiogenesis and maintenance of an avascular phenotype. Sequencing of the mouse IPAS genomic structure revealed that IPAS is a splicing variant of the HIF-3alpha locus. Thus, in addition to three unique exons (1a, 4a, and 16) IPAS shares three exons (2, 4, and 5) with HIF-3alpha as well as alternatively spliced variants of exons 3 and 6. In experiments using normal mice and mice exposed to hypoxia (6% O(2)) for 6 h we observed alternative splicing of the HIF-3alpha transcript in the heart and lung. The alternatively spliced transcript was only observed under hypoxic conditions, thus defining a novel mechanism of hypoxia-dependent regulation of gene expression. Importantly, this mechanism may establish negative feedback loop regulation of adaptive responses to hypoxia/ischemia in these tissues.
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Medical Nobel Institute, Karolinska Institute, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Yuichi
Y
Makino
Arvydas
A
Kanopka
William J
WJ
Wilson
Hirotoshi
H
Tanaka
Lorenz
L
Poellinger
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D005091:Exons; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D010641:Phenotype; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C116973:HIF3A protein, human; C444643:Hif3a protein, mouse