Hypoxia-Inducible Factor in Cancer Cells

During chemical hypoxia induced by cobalt chloride (CoCl2), hypoxia-inducible factor 1A (HIF1-A) mediates the induction of a variety of genes including erythropoietin and vascular endothelial growth factor. We used glioma cells with oxidative phosphorylation–dependent (D54-MG) and glycolytic-dependent (U251-MG) phenotypes to monitor HIF1-A regulation in association with redox responsiveness to CoCl2 treatment. We showed that CoCl2 increased xanthine oxidase (XO)–derived reactive oxygen species (ROS), which causes accumulation of HIF1-A protein in U251-MG cells. Under these conditions, blockade of XO activity by pharmacologic (N-acetyl-L-cysteine or allopurinol) or molecular (by small interfering RNA) approaches significantly attenuated HIF1-A expression. Exogenous H2O2 stabilizes HIF1-A protein. XO was present in these cells and was the primary source of free radicals. We also showed higher XO activity in cells exposed to CoCl2 compared with cells grown in normoxia. From the experiments shown here, we concluded that ROS were indeed generated in D54MG cells exposed to CoCl2 but it was unlikely that ROS participated in the hypoxic signal transduction pathways in this cell type. Possibly, cell type–dependent and stimulusdependent factors may control ROS dependency or redox sensitivity of HIF1-A and thus HIF1-A activation either directly or by induction of specific signaling cascades. Our findings reveal that XO-derived ROS is a novel and critical component of HIF1-A regulation in U251-MG cells, pointing toward a more general role of this transcription factor in tumor progression. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(4): 2257-63)