This research programme investigated the expression of prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) proteins in rodent tissues. The importance of PHD enzymes lies in their ability to render oxygen sensitivity to Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF), the principal mediator of intracellular oxygen homeostasis. The first part of this study focused on developing and validating anti-sera capable of detecting PHD proteins in rodent tissues. With these reagents, it was possible to assess the relative expression of each PHD protein in a number of different rat tissues. PHD2 was the most abundant isoform in all tissues studied. In contrast, an abundance of PHD1 was observed only in testis and skeletal muscle. A number of different tissue species of PHD3 were identified and their abundance was found to vary between different tissues. These observations provide further evidence of the principal role of PHD2 in regulating HIF in vivo, but also point towards additional roles for PHD1 and PHD3 in selected tissues. They highlight the potential for there being a complex interplay between different PHD enzymes which could, in the future, prove potential targets for therapeutic manipulation. This study also provides additional insights into the mechanisms underlying the phenotypes observed in PHD deletional mouse models which appear, in many cases, to be directly related to the abundance of a given PHD isoform. The emerging role of PHD3 as a promoter of sympathetic lineage apoptosis prompted further study of PHD3 expression in rat neuronal tissues. An abundance of PHD3 was demonstrated throughout the rat sympathetic nervous system, a finding which appeared at odds with its known role as a promoter of neuronal apoptosis and resulted in a series of collaborative studies which demonstrated a sympatho-adrenal phenotype in wild type compared to PHD3-/- mice. Further collaborative studies utilising wild type mice and those deleted of specific PHD isoforms, were carried out to assess the significance of the abundance of PHD3 and PHD1 noted here in rat hippocampus and testis respectively. While neither study demonstrated statistically significant phenotypes, these observations remain of interest and areas for future research.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plays a critical role in the oxygen homeostasis of all metazoans. HIF-1α is a master transcriptional regulator which coordinates the adaptive response to low oxygen tension. Through activation of a plethora of downstream target genes, HIF-1α facilitates oxygenation by promoting angiogenesis and blood vessel dilation, in addition to modulating metabolic pathways to inhibit oxidative phosphorylation and promote glycolytic energy production. Given the critical roles of hypoxia, insufficient blood supply and perturbed energetics in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disorders, notably ischaemic heart disease, therapeutic modulation of HIF-1α is of significant clinical interest. Previous studies have demonstrated an acute cardioprotective role for both endogenous and supraphysiological HIF-1α signalling in the context of myocardial ischaemia. In contrast, chronic supraphysiological HIF-1α activation in the unstressed heart has been shown to induce cardiac dysfunction. To address the effect of chronic endogenous HIF-1α activation post-myocardial infarction (MI), the present work employed a murine coronary artery ligation (CAL) model in conjunction with temporally-inducible, cardiac-specific deletion of Hif-1α. While CAL surgery successfully modelled myocardial infarction – eliciting substantial adverse cardiac remodelling and contractile dysfunction – there was no evidence of chronic HIF-1α activation by CAL in HIF knockout or control left ventricular samples. In keeping with this, chronic ablation of Hif-1α (from 2 weeks post-CAL) had no discernible additional effect upon cardiac function. Overall, these findings do not support a potential therapeutic role for inhibition of HIF-1α signalling in the chronic phase post-MI. The fundamental tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzyme fumarate hydratase (FH) converts fumarate to malate. FH deficiency is associated with smooth muscle and kidney tumours which exhibit normoxic HIF signalling due to fumarate accumulation. To investigate the potential for fumarate accumulation to elicit protective HIF signalling, a cardiac-specific Fh1 null mouse was developed through Cre-loxP recombination. Strikingly, despite interruption of the TCA cycle in a highly metabolically demanding organ, cardiac Fh1 null mice were viable, fertile and survived into adulthood, demonstrating the remarkable metabolic plasticity of the heart. However, by 3-4 months Fh1 null mice develop a lethal cardiomyopathy characterised by cardiac hypertrophy, ventricular dilatation and contractile dysfunction. Despite lack of a pseudohypoxic response, Fh1 null hearts did exhibit another phenomenon observed in FH-deficient cancers and also attributed to fumarate accumulation – activation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) antioxidant pathway. Heterozygous, but not homozygous, somatic deletion of Nrf2 extended the life expectancy of cardiac Fh1 null mice. Exploration of redox status revealed a more reductive environment in Fh1 null hearts than controls. As a corollary, inhibition of the rate limiting enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway – a major source of cellular reducing equivalents – with dehydroepiandrosterone conferred striking amelioration of the Fh1 null cardiomyopathy, suggesting a possible pathogenic role for reductive stress. While loss of mitochondrial Fh1 activity and subsequent TCA cycle dysfunction likely contribute to the Fh1 null phenotype, the importance of cytosolic FH was unclear. To clarify this, FH was expressed specifically in the cytosol in vivo. This was sufficient to substantially rescue the Fh1 null cardiomyopathy, supporting a role for cytosolic FH disruption in its pathogenesis. Taken together, these findings highlight the potential for reductive stress to contribute to cardiac dysfunction and suggest a function for cytosolic FH in cardiac metabolic homeostasis.

付記する学位プログラム名: 充実した健康長寿社会を築く総合医療開発リーダー育成プログラム / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(薬科学) / 甲第22400号 / 薬科博第122号 / 新制||薬科||13(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院薬学研究科医薬創成情報科学専攻 / (主査)教授 掛谷 秀昭, 教授 二木 史朗, 教授 土居 雅夫 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

This thesis investigates the effects of low oxygen culture conditions and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) on adult human dermal fibroblasts. It was previously shown that low oxygen and FGF2 culture conditions lead to an extension of proliferative lifespan, low-level activation of stem cell genes, and global transcriptional changes in adult human dermal fibroblasts. Additionally, an increased in vivo tissue regenerative response can be observed when human muscle-derived fibroblasts grown with FGF2 and low oxygen are implanted into mouse muscle injury, leading to a decrease in collagen deposition and scar formation and increase of functional skeletal muscle regeneration, including formation of Pax7+ muscle stem cells. These findings led to an analysis of key cellular oxygen sensors, hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) and their role in this regenerative response. Directly linking these factors with the regenerative response, I have shown, with knockdown experiments, that HIF-2α is required for the increased proliferative capability and decreased senescence of human dermal fibroblasts (hDFs) induced by hypoxia. I have also determined that low oxygen causes an early and transient increase of HIF-1α and late and sustained increase of HIF-2α protein accompanied by increased nuclear translocation. Using overexpression and knockdown approaches via lent-virus, I determined that HIF-2α appears to modulate FGF2 signaling through the FGF receptors. First, under low oxygen conditions, exogenous FGF2 led to downregulation of endogenous FGF2, which can be mimicked by overexpression of HIF-2α. In ambient oxygen we didn't see this effect. Second, HIF-2α overexpression appears to lead to increases in FGFR1 phosphorylation and consequently increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and increases in the expression of heparan sulfate modifying enzymes (NDST1, NDST2, and EXTL2). Lastly, sustained supplementation with FGF2 in low oxygen inhibits receptor-mediated FGF2 signaling. To understand these effects at the transcriptional level, using microarray technology, we identified oxygen-mediated FGF2 effects on genes involved in cell survival and proliferation. Through bioinformatics analyses, I determined that genes involved in wound healing (extracellular matrix genes, adhesion molecules, cytokines) are upregulated in FGF2 treated fibroblasts grown under low oxygen. By utilizing a gain-of-function approach, we were able to assess the effects of altered HIF-2α activity on the expression of Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Rex1, and Lin28 in adult hDFs. The results indicate that overexpression of the HIF-2α transcription factor increases Oct4 mRNA, but not Oct4 protein, levels, and had no effect on Nanog and Lin28 proteins. HIF-2α overexpression also mediated FGF2 induction of Sox2 and Rex1 proteins of higher molecular weight. This thesis expands our knowledge about effects of low oxygen and FGF2 on adult human dermal fibroblasts and explains in part, how FGF2 under low oxygen conditions may lead to increased proliferation, extended life span, regenerative competency and increased developmental plasticity of adult hDFs.

No description available.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic organic chemicals that persist in the environment and are known to be carcinogenic to humans. Virtually all of the deleterious effects of PCB 126, the most potent dioxin-like PCB, are mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). By means of the common cofactor ARNT, the AhR signaling pathway can crosstalk with the hypoxia signaling pathway. Regulated by hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), the hypoxia pathway mediates responses to environments of reduced oxygen availability (hypoxia). This dissertation specifically examines the crosstalk and interference between these two pathways in the context of PCB 126 exposure. The results of this dissertation show that the antagonistic relationship between the AhR and hypoxia signaling pathways affects the function and responses of both AhR and HIF-1Α. We provide substantial evidence that ARNT is indeed a crucial factor in both the AhR and HIF-1Α signaling pathways. Furthermore, this dissertation examines regulatory mechanisms involved in AhR-mediated gene expression and identifies epigenetic regulation as a critical factor in AhR target gene expression. In summary, this dissertation helped to improve the understanding of mechanisms of PCB 126 toxicity. Understanding the detrimental biological effects of these ubiquitous environmental pollutants might ultimately have significant implications for human health.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 156 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Activity of the hypoxia inducible HIF-alpha transcription factors drive the hypoxic response, resulting in enhancement of angiogenesis, tumour growth, invasion and metastasis. Seeking to uncover a role for Tid1 in control of HIF2-alpha, we used lentiviral shRNA to knock-down Tid1 in 786-0 RCC cells with and without pVHL. In 786-0 cells stably expressing pVHL30, Tid1 knock-down resulted in a dramatic reduction in HIF2-alpha levels relative to controls. Adenoviral-mediated overexpression of Tid1S rescued this decline in HIF2-alpha levels, while overexpression of Tid1L enhanced this decline. A protective role of Tid1S for HIF2-alpha was reproduced in a HEK293 cell model. Immunoprecipitations in HEK293 cells revealed a lack of direct binding between HIF2-alpha and Tid1 in vivo, while adenoviral-mediated overexpression of Tid1 in this model failed to alter in vitro binding between HIF2-alpha and pVHL30. We present a model in which Tid1 regulates HIF2-alpha stability through regulation of pVHL30 nuclear import.

Factor inhibiting HIF (FIH) negatively regulates hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) transcriptional activity, selectively controlling certain HIF-1 target genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prolyl hydroxylase domain 3 (PHD3), but not others. PHD3 and VEGF are important for placental development and function and are overexpressed in preeclampsia (PE). The purpose of this study was to examine FIH in both normal and pathological human placentae. I hypothesized that FIH regulates VEGF and PHD3 in the placenta and that this rheostat is altered in PE. Results show that FIH suppresses PHD3 and VEGF in JEG-3 cells; this effect was abrogated by FIH gene silencing. Moreover, my data indicate that seven in absentia homologue-1 (Siah-1) targets FIH for degradation in the placenta; this degradation is enhanced in PE and likely contributes to aberrant VEGF and PHD3 expression. Overall, my data suggest an important role for FIH in the pathogenesis of PE.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an aggressive malignancy characterized by inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau tumour suppressor gene, the protein product of which mediates degradation of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). GAL3ST1 is a sulfotransferase which catalyzes the production of sulfatide, a plasma membrane sulfolipid previously implicated in metastasis. We observed GAL3ST1 overexpression in primary ccRCC tumours relative to matched-normal tissue and subsequently asked if GAL3ST1 was a HIF-responsive gene that facilitates ccRCC metastasis. GAL3ST1 expression was suppressed in ccRCC cells by stable reconstitution of wild-type VHL and also siRNA-mediated knockdown of HIF1alpha and HIF2alpha. Dual luciferase assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed a hypoxia-response element in the GAL3ST1 5’-UTR that appeared to be crucial for HIF-mediated upregulation. Finally, stable knockdown of GAL3ST1 significantly impeded ccRCC cell invasion through an in vitro basement membrane mimic. These results suggest GAL3ST1 is a HIF-responsive gene that promotes tumour cell invasion.