title: Hypoxia induces upregulation of the deoxyribonuclease I gene in the human pancreatic cancer cell line QGP-1.
abstract: We have previously demonstrated that ischemia caused by acute myocardial infarction induces an abrupt increase of serum deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) activity. In this study, we examined whether hypoxia can affect the levels of DNase I activity and/or its transcripts in vitro. We first exposed the human pancreatic cancer cell line QGP-1, which is the first documented DNase-I-producing cell line, to hypoxia (2% O2), and found that this induced a significant increase in both the activity and transcripts of DNase I. This response was mediated by increased transcription only from exon 1a of the two alternative transcription-initiating exons utilized simultaneously in the human DNase I gene (DNASE1); exposure of QGP-1 cells to hypoxia for 24 h resulted in a 15-fold increase of DNASE1 transcripts starting from exon 1a compared with the expression level under normoxic conditions. Promoter, electrophoretic mobility shift, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays with QGP-1 cells exposed to hypoxia or normoxia showed that the region just upstream from exon 1a was involved in this response in a hypoxia-induced factor-1-independent, but at least in a Sp1 transcription factor-dependent manner possibly through enhanced binding of Sp1 protein to the promoter. These results indicate that DNASE1 expression is upregulated by hypoxia in the cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine and Medical Genetics, Gunma University, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kominato
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Tamiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tajima
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Chikako
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Makita
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Misuzu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasuda
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor / Q000502:physiology; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016329:Sp1 Transcription Factor; D003850:Deoxyribonuclease I