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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.