Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha promotes cancer stem cells-like properties in human ovarian cancer cells by upregulating SIRT1 expression

Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 6;7(1):10592. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09244-8.

Abstract

Ovarian cancer have a poor overall survival rate in patients, and late disease presentation and chemoresistance are the main factors that lead to the mortality of ovarian cancer. Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a small subpopulation of cancer cells, have been associated with resistance to chemo- and radio-therapy in cancer treatment. Hypoxia is a common characteristic of many malignant tumors, and increased HIF-1α expression predicts the poor prognosis of ovarian cancer. In this study, we reported the relationship between hypoxia and cancer stem cells-like properties in human ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3 and HO8910, we found that hypoxia induced cancer stem cells-like properties in ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, SIRT1 was found to be the downstream target gene of HIF-1α, which was involved in the promotion of cancer stem cells-like features in ovarian cancer cells by hypoxia, and NF-κB signaling pathway was involved in hypoxia-induced SIRT1 up-regulation. Our results hinted that HIF1α and SIRT1 might serve as potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Biomarkers
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Hypoxia / genetics
  • Hypoxia / metabolism
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / genetics
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / metabolism*
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • RNA Interference
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • Signal Transduction
  • Sirtuin 1 / genetics*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Biomarkers
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit
  • NF-kappa B
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • SIRT1 protein, human
  • Sirtuin 1