Cited by 51Cancer, Hypoxia, and MetabolismCancer, Lipids, and MetabolismEnzyme Structure and Function

Identification of oleoylethanolamide as an endogenous ligand for HIF-3α

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Diao, Xiaotong, Ye, Fei, Zhang, Meina, Ren, Xintong, Tian, Xiaoxu, Lu, Jingping, Sun, Xiangnan, Hou, Zeng +8 more·2022·Nature Communications

Abstract

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are α/β heterodimeric transcription factors modulating cellular responses to the low oxygen condition. Among three HIF-α isoforms, HIF-3α is the least studied to date. Here we show that oleoylethanolamide (OEA), a physiological lipid known to regulate food intake and metabolism, binds selectively to HIF-3α. Through crystallographic analysis of HIF-3 α/β heterodimer in both apo and OEA-bound forms, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and biochemical and cell-based assays, we unveil the molecular mechanism of OEA entry and binding to the PAS-B pocket of HIF-3α, and show that it leads to enhanced heterodimer stability and functional modulation of HIF-3. The identification of HIF-3α as a selective lipid sensor is consistent with recent human genetic findings linking HIF-3α with obesity, and demonstrates that endogenous metabolites can directly interact with HIF-α proteins to modulate their activities, potentially as a regulatory mechanism supplementary to the well-known oxygen-dependent HIF-α hydroxylation.

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  • The PAS domains across the bHLH-PAS family are likely to act as ligand-sensing sites, as evidenced by AHR endogenous ligands such as FICZ and a recently identified metabolite ligand for HIF-3α, oleoylethanolamide.

    “The PAS domains across this family are likely to act as ligand-sensing sites, as best evidenced by previously established AHR endogenous ligands such as FICZ, and a recently identified metabolite ligand for HIF-3α, oleoylethanolamide34.”
  • Site-directed mutagenesis was confirmed by DNA sequencing.

    “Site-directed mutagenesis was performed as previously34, and confirmed by DNA sequencing.”

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Authors
Diao, X., Ye, F., Zhang, M., Ren, X., Tian, X., Lu, J., Sun, X., Hou, Z., Chen, X., Li, F., Zhuang, J., Ding, H., Peng, C., Rastinejad, F., Luo, C., & Wu, D.
Affiliations
  • Shandong University (CN)
  • Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (CN)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Rastinejad, Fraydoon
  • Luo, Cheng
  • Wu, Dalei
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2022-05-09
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
2529-2529
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4229372258
Cited by
51
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 5
FWCI
4.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (22177063)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2021JQ30)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Enzyme Structure and Function
Keywords
oleoylethanolamide, HIF-3α, hypoxia-inducible factor, lipid binding, heterodimer stability, endogenous ligands, lipid sensing, obesity, crystal structure, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry
MeSH terms
Humans, Ligands, Oleic Acids, Oxygen, Repressor Proteins, Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors, Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit, Endocannabinoids

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