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HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1) has been shown to essentially control the cellular response to hypoxia. Hypoxia stabilizes the inducible alpha-subunit, preventing post-translational hydroxylation and subsequent degradation via the proteasome. In recent years, clear evidence has emerged that HIF-1alpha is also responsive to many stimuli under normoxic conditions, including thrombin, growth factors, vasoactive peptides, insulin, lipopolysaccharide and cytokines such as TNF-alpha (tumour necrosis factor-alpha), and in many cases reactive oxygen species are involved. One important mechanism underlying these responses is the transcriptional regulation of HIF-1alpha by the redox-sensitive transcription factor NF-kappaB (nuclear factor kappaB), which binds at a distinct element in the proximal promoter of the HIF-1alpha gene. More recently, NF-kappaB binding to this site in the HIF-1alpha promoter has been shown also under hypoxic conditions. Thus these two major pathways regulating the responses to inflammation and oxidative stress on the one hand, and hypoxia on the other hand, appear to be intimately linked. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, a study by van Uden et al. has supported these findings further, in which they have confirmed the binding of several proteins of the NF-kappaB family at the previously identified consensus site in the HIF-1alpha promoter and shown that TNF-alpha can also transcriptionally induce HIF-1alpha by this previously described pathway. The identification of HIF-1alpha as a target gene of NF-kappaB will have important implications for a variety of disorders related to hypoxia-ischaemia and/or inflammation and oxidative stress.

The oxygen sensitive alpha-subunit of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a major trigger of the cellular response to hypoxia. Although the posttranslational regulation of HIF-1alpha by hypoxia is well known, its transcriptional regulation by hypoxia is still under debate. We, therefore, investigated the regulation of HIF-1alpha mRNA in response to hypoxia in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Hypoxia rapidly enhanced HIF-1alpha mRNA levels and HIF-1alpha promoter activity. Furthermore, inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 pathway blocked the hypoxia-dependent induction of HIF-1alpha mRNA and HIF-1alpha promoter activity, suggesting involvement of a PI3K/AKT-regulated transcription factor. Interestingly, hypoxia also induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB) nuclear translocation and activity. In line, expression of the NFkappaB subunits p50 and p65 enhanced HIF-1alpha mRNA levels, whereas blocking of NFkappaB by an inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappaB attenuated HIF-1alpha mRNA induction by hypoxia. Reporter gene assays revealed the presence of an NFkappaB site within the HIF-1alpha promoter, and mutation of this site abolished induction by hypoxia. In line, gel shift analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed binding of p50 and p65 NFkappaB subunits to the HIF-1alpha promoter under hypoxia. Together, these findings provide a novel mechanism in which hypoxia induces HIF-1alpha mRNA expression via the PI3K/AKT pathway and activation of NFkappaB.

Objective: Reactive oxygen species have been implicated as signaling molecules modulating the activity of redox-sensitive transcription factors such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). Recently, the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), known to mediate gene expression by hypoxia, has been found to be also activated by nonhypoxic factors in a redox-sensitive manner. We therefore aimed to elucidate the link between these 2 important redox-sensitive transcription factors., Methods and Results: In pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, reactive oxygen species generated either by exogenous H2O2 or by a NOX4-containing NADPH oxidase stimulated by thrombin activated or induced NF-kappaB and HIF-1alpha. The reactive oxygen species-mediated HIF-1alpha induction occurred on the transcriptional level and was dependent on NF-kappaB. Transfection experiments with wild-type or mutant HIF-1alpha promoter constructs revealed the presence of a yet unidentified NF-kappaB binding element. Gel shift analyses and chromatin immunoprecipitation verified binding of NF-kappaB to this site. Furthermore, reactive oxygen species enhanced expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, which was prevented by dominant-negative IkappaB or mutation of the HIF-1 binding site within the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 promoter., Conclusion: These findings show for the first time to our knowledge that reactive oxygen species directly link HIF-1alpha and NF-kappaB, implicating an important pathophysiological role of this novel pathway in disorders associated with elevated levels of reactive oxygen species.