Accumulation of HIF-1α under the influence of nitric oxide

Abstract

The key player for adaptation to reduced oxygen availability is the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), composed of the redox-sensitive HIF-1α and the constitutively expressed HIF-1β subunits. Under normoxic conditions, HIF-1α is rapidly degraded, whereas hypoxia, CoCl2, or desferroxamine promote protein stabilization, thus evoking its transcriptional activity. Because HIF-1 is regulated by reactive oxygen species, investigation of the impact of reactive nitrogen species was intended. By using different nitric oxide (NO) donors, dose- and time-dependent HIF-1α accumulation in close correlation with the release of NO from chemically distinct NO donors was established. Intriguingly, small NO concentrations induced a faster but transient HIF-1α accumulation than higher doses of the same NO donor. In contrast, NO attenuated up-regulation of HIF-1α evoked by CoCl2 in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, whereas the desferroxamine-elicited HIF-1α signal remained unaltered. To demonstrate an autocrine or paracrine signaling function of NO, we overexpressed the inducible NO synthase and used a coculture system of activated macrophages and tubular cells. Expression of the NO synthase induced HIF-1α accumulation, which underscored the role of NO as an intracellular activator for HIF-1. In addition, macrophage-derived NO triggered HIF-1α up-regulation in LLC-PK1 target cells, which points to intercellular signaling properties of NO in achieving HIF-1 accumulation. Our results show that NO does not only modulate the HIF-1 response under hypoxic conditions, but it also functions as a HIF-1 inducer. We conclude that accumulation of HIF-1 occurs during hypoxia but also under inflammatory conditions that are characterized by sustained NO formation.