Docetaxel induced-JNK2/PHD1 signaling pathway increases degradation of HIF-1α and causes cancer cell death under hypoxia

HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1) regulates the expression of more than 70 genes involved in angiogenesis, tumor growth, metastasis, chemoresistance, and radioresistance. Thus, there is growing interest in using HIF-1 inhibitors as anticancer drugs. Docetaxel, a Food and Drug Administration-approved anticancer drug, is reported to enhance HIF-1α degradation. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanism underlying docetaxel-induced HIF-1α degradation and cancer cell death under hypoxic conditions. Docetaxel pretreatment enhanced the polyubiquitination and proteasome-mediated degradation of HIF-1α, and increased cancer cell death under hypoxic conditions. Docetaxel also activated the prolyl hydroxylase, PHD1, in hypoxia, and pharmacological inhibition or siRNA-mediated knockdown of PHD1 prevented docetaxel-induced HIF-1α degradation and cancer cell death. Additionally, siRNA-mediated JNK2 knockdown blocked docetaxel-induced HIF-1α degradation and cancer cell death by inhibiting PHD1 activation. A luciferase reporter assay revealed that inhibition of the JNK2/PHD1 signaling pathway significantly increased the transcriptional activity of HIF-1 in docetaxel-treated cancer cells under hypoxia. Consistent with these results, docetaxel-treated JNK2-knockdown tumors grew much faster than control tumors through inhibition of docetaxel-induced PHD1 activation and degradation of HIF-1α. Our results collectively show that, under hypoxic conditions, docetaxel induces apoptotic cell death through JNK2/PHD1 signaling-mediated HIF-1α degradation.