title: Role of Rac1 and Cdc42 in hypoxia induced p53 and von Hippel-Lindau suppression and HIF1alpha activation.
abstract: Low oxygen tension can influence tumor progression by enhancing angiogenesis, a process that may involve Rho GTPases whose activities have been implicated in tumorigenesis and metastasis. In the present study, we show that hypoxia can increase the mRNA levels and intracellular activities of Rac1 and Cdc42 in a time-dependent manner. The hypoxia-stimulated activities of Rac1 and Cdc42 could be blocked by the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 and the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor genistein but were not affected by the p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580 or the MEK-1 inhibitor PD98059, suggesting that the hypoxia-mediated signals were through PI3K and PTK. Correlating with the increased activities of Rac1 and Cdc42, the expression of the pro-angiogenesis factors HIF-1alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was upregulated by hypoxia, whereas the expression of the tumor suppressors von Hippel-Lindau and p53 was down-regulated. Dominant negative N17Rac1 and N17Cdc42 could upregulate the expression of p53 and pVHL but downregulate that of HIF-1alpha and VEGF under hypoxia. Furthermore, the preconditioned medium from N17Rac1 or N17Cdc42-expressing gastric cancer cells was able to inhibit the proliferation of HUVECs. Our results indicate that PI3K and PTK-mediated activations of Rac1 and Cdc42 are involved in the hypoxia-induced production of angiogenesis-promoting factors and tumor suppressors, and suggest that the Rho family GTPases Rac1 and Cdc42 may contribute to the hypoxia-mediated angiogenesis.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Xueyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Siyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yanglin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yongquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xuebiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Daiming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002867:Chromones / Q000494:pharmacology; D015536:Down-Regulation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D019833:Genistein / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism*; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism; D051794:Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002867:Chromones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D009025:Morpholines; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C085911:2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one; D019833:Genistein; D051794:Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein; C497446:VHL protein, human