Hypoxia-Induced Gene Expression Occurs Solely through the Action of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α (HIF-1α): Role of Cytoplasmic Trapping of HIF-2α

Abstract

ABSTRACT The hypoxia-inducible factors 1α (HIF-1α) and 2α (HIF-2α) have extensive structural homology and have been identified as key transcription factors responsible for gene expression in response to hypoxia. They play critical roles not only in normal development, but also in tumor progression. Here we report on the differential regulation of protein expression and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α and -2α by hypoxia in immortalized mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). We show that oxygen-dependent protein degradation is restricted to HIF-1α, as HIF-2α protein is detected in MEFs regardless of oxygenation and is localized primarily to the cytoplasm. Endogenous HIF-2α remained transcriptionally inactive under hypoxic conditions; however, ectopically overexpressed HIF-2α translocated into the nucleus and could stimulate expression of hypoxia-inducible genes. We show that the factor inhibiting HIF-1 can selectively inhibit the transcriptional activity of HIF-1α but has no effect on HIF-2α-mediated transcription in MEFs. We propose that HIF-2α is not a redundant transcription factor of HIF-1α for hypoxia-induced gene expression and show evidence that there is a cell type-specific modulator(s) that enables selective activation of HIF-1α but not HIF-2α in response to low-oxygen stress.