Identification of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α-Responsive HGTD-P Gene as a Mediator in the Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway

Abstract

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) controls the cellular responses to hypoxia, activating transcription of a range of genes involved in adaptive processes such as increasing glycolysis and promoting angiogenesis. However, paradoxically, HIF-1α also participates in hypoxic cell death. Several gene products, such as BNip3, RTP801, and Noxa, were identified as HIF-1α-responsive proapoptotic proteins, but the complicated hypoxic cell death pathways could not be completely explained by the few known genes. Moreover, molecules linking the proapoptotic signals of HIF-1α directly to mitochondrial permeability transition are missing. In this work, we report the identification of an HIF-1α-responsive proapoptotic molecule, HGTD-P. Its expression was directly regulated by HIF-1α through a hypoxia-responsive element on the HGTD-P promoter region. When overexpressed, HGTD-P was localized to mitochondria and facilitated apoptotic cell death via typical mitochondrial apoptotic cascades, including permeability transition, cytochrome c release, and caspase 9 activation. In the process of permeability transition induction, the death-inducing domain of HGTD-P physically interacted with the voltage-dependent anion channel. In addition, suppression of HGTD-P expression by small interfering RNA or antisense oligonucleotides protected against hypoxic cell death. Taken together, our data indicate that HGTD-P is a new HIF-1α-responsive proapoptotic molecule that activates mitochondrial apoptotic cascades.

This work was supported by a grant (R01-2001-000-00200-0) from the Basic Research Program of the Korea Science & Engineering Foundation. This work was also funded by the Korea Science & Engineering Foundation through the Biomedical Research Center for Reactive Oxygen Species at Kyung Hee University (R13-2002-020-01002-0).