Modulating hypoxia-inducible transcription by disrupting the HIF-1-DNA interface

Transcription mediated by hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) contributes to tumor angiogenesis and metastasis but is also involved in the activation of cell-death pathways and normal physiological processes. Given the complexity of HIF-1 signaling it could be advantageous to target a subset of HIF-1 effectors rather than the entire pathway. We compared the genome-wide effects of three molecules that each interfere with the HIF-1-DNA interaction: a polyamide targeted to the hypoxia response element (HRE), siRNA targeted to HIF-1, and echinomycin, a DNA binding natural product with a similar but less specific sequence preference to the polyamide. The polyamide affects a subset of hypoxia-induced genes that are consistent with the binding site preferences of the polyamide. For comparison, siRNA targeted to HIF-1 and echinomycin each affect the expression of nearly every gene induced by hypoxia. Remarkably, the total number of genes affected by either polyamide or HIF-1 siRNA over a range of thresholds is comparable. The data shows how polyamides can be used to affect a subset of a pathway regulated by a transcription factor. In addition, this study offers a unique comparison of three complementary approaches towards exogenous control of endogenous gene expression.

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Nickols NG, Jacobs CS, Farkas ME, Dervan PB