The Oncogene HER2/neu (ERBB2) Requires the Hypoxia-inducible Factor HIF-1 for Mammary Tumor Growth and Anoikis Resistance

ERBB2, a receptor tyrosine kinase amplified in breast cancer, is a well established regulator of tumor growth in vivo and anoikis resistance leading to disruption of architecture in three-dimensional mammary epithelial acinar structures in vitro. ERBB2 promotes anoikis resistance by maintaining signaling pathways and by rescuing metabolic defects and thus inhibiting accumulation of deleterious reactive oxygen species. Recent evidence suggests that hypoxia, via hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), can inhibit anoikis; thus, we hypothesized that HIF-1 may play a role in ERBB2-mediated anoikis resistance and oncogenesis. Indeed, tumors isolated from MMTV-Neu mice contain elevated HIF-1α levels and tumor cells created from MMTV-Neu mice harboring deletion of Hif1α alleles reduced primary tumor growth in vivo. ERBB2 overexpressing cancer cells stabilize HIF under normoxic conditions and require HIF-1 for ERBB2-mediated anchorage-independence, three-dimensional culture growth and anoikis resistance. HIF-1 reduction in ERBB2 cells was associated with induction of the pro-anoikis protein BIM and decreased ERK and AKT signaling during cell detachment. ERBB2-mediated inhibition of metabolic defects, including decreased reactive oxygen species generation in suspension, required HIF-1 expression that was critical for ERBB2-mediated oncogenesis. Gene expression profiling of hypoxic three-dimensional acinar structures identified a number of genes elevated in response to hypoxia that are known ERBB2 targets, suggesting that hypoxic conditions and ERBB2 overexpression share both phenotypic and genetic components via HIF-1 regulation. Thus, our data demonstrate that ERBB2 requires HIF-1 for tumor growth and suggest that HIF is a major downstream regulator of ERBB2 that protects cells from anoikis and metabolic stress caused by decreased matrix adhesion.     

Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor α (PPARα) Suppresses Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) Signaling in Cancer Cells

Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) has been demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis, yet the mechanisms behind these actions remain to be characterized. In this study, we examined the effects of PPARα activation on the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) signaling pathway in human breast (MCF-7) and ovarian (A2780) cancer cells under hypoxia. Incubation of cancer cells under 1% oxygen for 16 h significantly induced HIF-1α expression and activity as assayed by Western blotting and reporter gene analysis. Treatment of the cells with PPARα agonists, but not a PPARγ agonist, prior to hypoxia diminished hypoxia-induced HIF-1α expression and activity, and addition of a PPARα antagonist attenuated the suppression of HIF-1α signaling. Activation of PPARα attenuated hypoxia-induced HA-tagged HIF-1α protein expression without affecting the HA-tagged HIF-1α mutant protein level, indicating that PPARα activation promotes HIF-1α degradation in these cells. This was further confirmed using proteasome inhibitors, which reversed PPARα-mediated suppression of HIF-1α expression under hypoxia. Using the co-immunoprecipitation technique, we found that activation of PPARα enhances the binding of HIF-1α to von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (pVHL), a protein known to mediate HIF-1α degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Following PPARα-mediated suppression of HIF-1α signaling, VEGF secretion from the cancer cells was significantly reduced, and tube formation by endothelial cells was dramatically impaired. Taken together, these findings demonstrate for the first time that activation of PPARα suppresses hypoxia-induced HIF-1α signaling in cancer cells, providing novel insight into the anticancer properties of PPARα agonists.     

Heterogeneous Effects of Direct Hypoxia Pathway Activation in Kidney Cancer

General activation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathways is classically associated with adverse prognosis in cancer and has been proposed to contribute to oncogenic drive. In clear cell renal carcinoma (CCRC) HIF pathways are upregulated by inactivation of the von-Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor. However HIF-1α and HIF-2α have contrasting effects on experimental tumor progression. To better understand this paradox we examined pan-genomic patterns of HIF DNA binding and associated gene expression in response to manipulation of HIF-1α and HIF-2α and related the findings to CCRC prognosis. Our findings reveal distinct pan-genomic organization of canonical and non-canonical HIF isoform-specific DNA binding at thousands of sites. Overall associations were observed between HIF-1α-specific binding, and genes associated with favorable prognosis and between HIF-2α-specific binding and adverse prognosis. However within each isoform-specific set, individual gene associations were heterogeneous in sign and magnitude, suggesting that activation of each HIF-α isoform contributes a highly complex mix of pro- and anti-tumorigenic effects.     

Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) Promotes Cap-dependent Translation of Selective mRNAs through Up-regulating Initiation Factor eIF4E1 in Breast Cancer Cells under Hypoxia Conditions

Hypoxia promotes tumor evolution and metastasis, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a key regulator of hypoxia-related cellular processes in cancer. The eIF4E translation initiation factors, eIF4E1, eIF4E2, and eIF4E3, are essential for translation initiation. However, whether and how HIF-1α affects cap-dependent translation through eIF4Es in hypoxic cancer cells has been unknown. Here, we report that HIF-1α promoted cap-dependent translation of selective mRNAs through up-regulation of eIF4E1 in hypoxic breast cancer cells. Hypoxia-promoted breast cancer tumorsphere growth was HIF-1α-dependent. We found that eIF4E1, not eIF4E2 or eIF4E3, is the dominant eIF4E family member in breast cancer cells under both normoxia and hypoxia conditions. eIF4E3 expression was largely sequestered in breast cancer cells at normoxia and hypoxia. Hypoxia up-regulated the expression of eIF4E1 and eIF4E2, but only eIF4E1 expression was HIF-1α-dependent. In hypoxic cancer cells, HIF-1α-up-regulated eIF4E1 enhanced cap-dependent translation of a subset of mRNAs encoding proteins important for breast cancer cell mammosphere growth. In searching for correlations, we discovered that human eIF4E1 promoter harbors multiple potential hypoxia response elements. Furthermore, using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase and point mutation assays, we found that HIF-1α utilized hypoxia response elements in the human eIF4E1 proximal promoter region to activate eIF4E1 expression. Our study suggests that HIF-1α promotes cap-dependent translation of selective mRNAs through up-regulating eIF4E1, which contributes to tumorsphere growth of breast cancer cells at hypoxia. The data shown provide new insights into protein synthesis mechanisms in cancer cells at low oxygen levels.     

HIF-1-Dependent Induction of Jumonji Domain-Containing Protein (JMJD) 3 under Hypoxic Conditions

Jumonji domain-containing proteins (JMJD) catalyze the oxidative demethylation of a methylated lysine residue of histones by using O₂, α-ketoglutarate, vitamin C, and Fe(II). Several JMJDs are induced by hypoxic stress to compensate their presumed reduction in catalytic activity under hypoxia. In this study, we showed that an H3K27me3 specific histone demethylase, JMJD3 was induced by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α/β under hypoxia and that treatment with Clioquinol, a HIF-1α activator, increased JMJD3 expression even under normoxia. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analyses showed that both HIF-1α and its dimerization partner HIF-1β/Arnt occupied the first intron region of the mouse JMJD3 gene, whereas the HIF-1α/β heterodimer bound to the upstream region of the human JMJD3, indicating that human and mouse JMJD3 have hypoxia-responsive regulatory regions in different locations. This study shows that both mouse and human JMJD3 are induced by HIF-1.     

Loss of von Hippel-Lindau Protein (VHL) Increases Systemic Cholesterol Levels through Targeting Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 2α and Regulation of Bile Acid Homeostasis

Cholesterol synthesis is a highly oxygen-dependent process. Paradoxically, hypoxia is correlated with an increase in cellular and systemic cholesterol levels and risk of cardiovascular diseases. The mechanism for the increase in cholesterol during hypoxia is unclear. Hypoxia signaling is mediated through hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and HIF-2α. The present study demonstrates that activation of HIF signaling in the liver increases hepatic and systemic cholesterol levels due to a decrease in the expression of cholesterol hydroxylase CYP7A1 and other enzymes involved in bile acid synthesis. Specifically, activation of hepatic HIF-2α (but not HIF-1α) led to hypercholesterolemia. HIF-2α repressed the circadian expression of Rev-erbα, resulting in increased expression of E4BP4, a negative regulator of Cyp7a1. To understand if HIF-mediated decrease in bile acid synthesis is a physiologically relevant pathway by which hypoxia maintains or increases systemic cholesterol levels, two hypoxic mouse models were assessed, an acute lung injury model and mice exposed to 10% O₂ for 3 weeks. In both models, cholesterol levels increased with a concomitant decrease in expression of genes involved in bile acid synthesis. The present study demonstrates that hypoxic activation of hepatic HIF-2α leads to an adaptive increase in cholesterol levels through inhibition of bile acid synthesis.     

Chemotherapy-mediated p53-dependent DNA damage response in clear cell renal cell carcinoma: role of the mTORC1/2 and hypoxia-inducible factor pathways

The DNA-damaging agent camptothecin (CPT) and its analogs demonstrate clinical utility for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, and CPT-based nanopharmaceuticals are currently in clinical trials for advanced kidney cancer; however, little is known regarding the effects of CPT on hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α) accumulation and activity in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Here we assessed the effects of CPT on the HIF/p53 pathway. CPT demonstrated striking inhibition of both HIF-1α and HIF-2α accumulation in von Hippel–Lindau (VHL)-defective ccRCC cells, but surprisingly failed to inhibit protein levels of HIF-2α-dependent target genes (VEGF, PAI-1, ET-1, cyclin D1). Instead, CPT induced DNA damage-dependent apoptosis that was augmented in the presence of pVHL. Further analysis revealed CPT regulated endothelin-1 (ET-1) in a p53-dependent manner: CPT increased ET-1 mRNA abundance in VHL-defective ccRCC cell lines that was significantly augmented in their VHL-expressing counterparts that displayed increased phosphorylation and accumulation of p53; p53 siRNA suppressed CPT-induced increase in ET-1 mRNA, as did an inhibitor of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) signaling, suggesting a role for ATM-dependent phosphorylation of p53 in the induction of ET-1. Finally, we demonstrate that p53 phosphorylation and accumulation is partially dependent on mTOR activity in ccRCC. Consistent with this result, pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1/2 kinase inhibited CPT-mediated ET-1 upregulation, and p53-dependent responses in ccRCC. Collectively, these data provide mechanistic insight into the action of CPT in ccRCC, identify ET-1 as a p53-regulated gene and demonstrate a requirement of mTOR for p53-mediated responses in this tumor type.