Hypoxia-inducible factors are the key elements in the essential process of oxygen homeostasis of vertebrate cells. Stabilisation and subsequent nuclear localisation of HIF-alpha subunits results in the activation of target genes such as vegf, epo and glut1. The passage of transcription factors e.g. HIF-1alpha into the nucleus through the nuclear pore complex is regulated by nuclear transport receptors. Therefore nucleocytoplasmic shuttling can regulate transcriptional activity by facilitating the cellular traffic of transcription factors between both compartments. Here, we report on the identification of specific interactions of hypoxia-inducible factors with nuclear transport receptors importin alpha/beta. HIF-1alpha, -1beta, and HIF-2alpha are binding to importin alpha1, alpha3, alpha5, and alpha7. The direct interaction of HIF-1alpha to alpha importins is dependent on a functional nuclear localisation signal within the C-terminal region of the protein. In contrast, the supposed N-terminal NLS is not effective. Our findings provide new insight into the mechanism of the regulation of nuclear transport of hypoxia-inducible factors.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT), also designated as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1β, plays a pivotal role in the adaptive responses to (micro-)environmental stresses such as dioxin exposure and oxygen deprivation (hypoxia). ARNT belongs to the group of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) transcription factors, which act as heterodimers. ARNT serves as a common binding partner for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as well as HIF-α subunits. HIF-α proteins are regulated in an oxygen-dependent manner, whereas ARNT is generally regarded as constitutively expressed, meaning that neither the arnt mRNA nor the protein level is influenced by hypoxia (despite the name HIF-1β). However, there is emerging evidence that tumor cells derived from different entities are able to upregulate ARNT, especially under low oxygen tension in a cell-specific manner. The objective of this review is therefore to highlight and summarize current knowledge regarding the hypoxia-dependent upregulation of ARNT, which is in sharp contrast to the general point of view described in the literature. Elucidating the mechanism behind this rare cellular attribute will help us to gain new insights into HIF biology and might provide new strategies for anticancer therapeutics. In conclusion, putative treatment effects on ARNT should be taken into account while studying the HIF pathway. This step is of great importance when ARNT is intended to serve as a loading control or as a reference.

HIV-1 employs the cellular nuclear import machinery to actively transport its preintegration complex (PIC) into the nucleus for integration of the viral DNA. Several viral karyophilic proteins and cellular import factors have been suggested to contribute to HIV-1 PIC nuclear import and replication. However, how HIV interacts with different cellular machineries to ensure efficient nuclear import of its preintegration complex in dividing and nondividing cells is still not fully understood. In this study, we have investigated different importin ␣ (Imp␣) family members for their impacts on HIV-1 replication, and we demonstrate that short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated Imp␣3 knockdown (KD) significantly impaired HIV infection in HeLa cells, CD4؉ C8166 T cells, and primary macrophages. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that Imp␣3-KD resulted in significantly reduced levels of viral 2-long-terminal repeat (2-LTR) circles but had no effect on HIV reverse transcription. All of these data indicate an important role for Imp␣3 in HIV nuclear import. In an attempt to understand how Imp␣3 participates in HIV nuclear import and replication, we first demonstrated that the HIV-1 karyophilic protein integrase (IN) was able to interact with Imp␣3 both in a 293T cell expression system and in HIV-infected CD4 ؉ C8166 T cells. Deletion analysis suggested that a region (amino acids [aa] 250 to 270) in the C-terminal domain of IN is involved in this viral-cellular protein interaction. Overall, this study demonstrates for the first time that Imp␣3 is an HIV integrase-interacting cofactor that is required for efficient HIV-1 nuclear import and replication in both dividing and nondividing cells.HIV-1 replicates productively in nondividing cells, such as monocytes (49,61,74), macrophages (23,37,59,65,71), dendritic cells (47,64), and resting CD4 ϩ T lymphocytes (86), through its ability to undergo active nuclear import by hijacking the host nuclear import machinery. Moreover, active nuclear import is not only required for nondividing-cell infection but also plays a role in the infection of proliferating cells (35). This ability of HIV-1 to enter the nucleus at interphase may contribute significantly to the very high replication rate observed in infected individuals (30,70,73) and is one of the crucial steps in HIV-1 replication, which plays a leading role in the establishment of infection and AIDS pathogenesis.The viral double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which associates with viral and cellular proteins, forms a high-molecular-mass nucleoprotein complex called the preintegration complex (PIC) in the cytosol of an infected cell (15,51). This large complex has to actively enter the nucleus through the intact nuclear membrane in order to be integrated. At the molecular level, the active nuclear import ability of HIV-1 is attributed to the karyophilic properties of viral PICs. It is known that several viral nucleophilic proteins, including integrase (IN), matrix (MA), and Vpr, are associated with this nucleoprotein complex and pla...

Erythropoietin (Epo) therapy reduces red cell transfusion requirements and improves the quality of life of anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. However, there is concern that Epo may promote tumor growth. We investigated by real‐time RT‐PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, Western blotting and cell growth analysis whether human cancer cell lines (SH‐SY5Y, MCF7, HepG2, U2‐OS, HeLa, HEK293T, RCC4, HCT116, 7860wt and SW480) possess functional Epo receptors (EpoR). We detected EpoR mRNA in all cell lines. Neither hypoxia nor Epo treatment altered the level of EpoR mRNA expression. Four commonly used commercial antibodies proved to be unsuitable for immunoblot procedures because they cross‐reacted with several proteins unrelated with EpoR. Depending on the antibody used, EpoR was localized to the plasma membrane, the cytoplasm or the nucleus. Experiments with small interfering RNA showed that EpoR protein was not expressed by the tumor cells except by UT7/Epo leukemia cells, which served as an EpoR positive control line, and by cells transfected with the human EpoR gene. Apart from UT7/Epo, none of the tumor cell lines responded to Epo treatment with phosphorylation of signaling molecules or with cell proliferation. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor (HIMF), also called FIZZ1 or RELMalpha, was a newly found cytokine. Hypoxia caused robust HIMF induction in the lung, and HIMF has potent pulmonary vasoconstrictive, proliferative, and angiogenic properties. To investigate the role of HIMF in lung development, we determined its spatial and temporal expression. From embryonic day (E)16 to postnatal day (P)28, HIMF was strongly expressed in the cytoplasm of bronchial epithelial cells, type II cells, endothelial cells, and primitive mesenchymal cells. Treatment with HIMF resulted in a significant reduction of apoptosis in cultured embryonic lung, thus revealing a previously unknown function of HIMF. Because HIMF gene is upregulated by hypoxia and contains a hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF) binding site, we subsequently investigated whether HIMF was coexpressed with HIF-2alpha or HIF-1alpha. HIF-1alpha expression was temporally distinct from HIMF expression. In contrast, HIF-2alpha was present in endothelial cells, bronchial epithelial cells, and type II cells from E18 to P28. Thus, HIMF and HIF-2alpha were temporally and spatially coexpressed in the developing lung. These results indicate a role for HIMF in lung development, possibly under the control of HIF-2, and suggest that HIMF regulates apoptosis and may participate in lung alveolarization and maturation.

Trps1, the gene mutated in human Tricho-Rhino-Phalangeal syndrome, represents an atypical member of the GATA-family of transcription factors. Here we show that Trps1 interacts with Indian hedgehog (Ihh)/Gli3 signaling and regulates chondrocyte differentiation and proliferation. We demonstrate that Trps1 specifically binds to the transactivation domain of Gli3 in vitro and in vivo, whereas the repressor form of Gli3 does not interact with Trps1. A domain of 185aa within Trps1, containing three predicted zinc fingers, is sufficient for interaction with Gli3. Using different mouse models we find that in distal chondrocytes Trps1 and the repressor activity of Gli3 are required to expand distal cells and locate the expression domain of Parathyroid hormone related peptide. In columnar proliferating chondrocytes Trps1 and Ihh/Gli3 have an activating function. The differentiation of columnar and hypertrophic chondrocytes is supported by Trps1 independent of Gli3. Trps1 seems thus to organize chondrocyte differentiation interacting with different subsets of co-factors in distinct cell types.

Nuclear transport receptors of the karyopherin superfamily of proteins transport macromolecules from one compartment to the other and are critical for both cell physiology and pathophysiology. The nuclear transport machinery is tightly regulated and essential to a number of key cellular processes since the spatiotemporally expression of many proteins and the nuclear transporters themselves is crucial for cellular activities. Dysregulation of the nuclear transport machinery results in localization shifts of specific cargo proteins and associates with the pathogenesis of disease states such as cancer, inflammation, viral illness and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, inhibition of the nuclear transport system has future potential for therapeutic intervention and could contribute to the elucidation of disease mechanisms. In this review, we recapitulate clue findings in the pathophysiological significance of nuclear transport processes and describe the development of nuclear transport inhibitors. Finally, clinical implications and results of the first clinical trials are discussed for the most promising nuclear transport inhibitors.

Dystrophic cardiac calcification (DCC) is an autosomal recessive trait characterized by calcium phosphate deposits in myocardial tissue. The Abcc6 gene locus was recently found to mediate DCC; however, at the molecular level the causative variants remain to be determined. Examining the sequences of Abcc6 cDNA in DCC-resistant C57BL/6 and DCC-susceptible C3H/He mice, we identified a missense mutation (Cys to Thr at codon 619, rs32756904) at the 3-border of exon 14 that creates an additional donor splice site (GT). Accordingly, an alternative transcript variant was detected, lacking the last 5 bp of exon 14 (-AGG(C/T)GCTgtga-) in DCC-susceptible C3H/He mice that carry the Thr allele. The 5-bp deletion was found to result in premature termination at codon 684, in turn leading to protein deficiency in DCC-susceptible mouse tissue as well as in cells transfected with Abcc6 cDNA lacking the last 5 bp of exon 14. All mouse strains that were found to carry the Thr allele, including C3H/He, DBA/2J, and 129S1/SvJ, were also found to be positive for DCC. In summary, we identified a splice variant leading to a 5-bp deletion in the Abcc6 transcript that gives rise to protein deficiency both in vivo and in vitro. The fact that all mouse strains that carry the deletion also develop dystrophic calcifications further suggests that the underlying splice variant affects the biological function of MRP6 protein and is a cause of DCC in mice.