Hypoxia stimulates 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in breast cancer cells via Hypoxia inducible Factor-1 and AMP-activated protein kinase

Introduction: Hypoxia can stimulate F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in cultured cells. A better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism is required to determine the value of FDG for studying tumour hypoxia. Methods: The effect of hypoxia on FDG uptake, and key proteins involved in glucose transport and glycolysis, was studied in MCF7 and MDA231 breast cancer cell lines. Results: Hypoxia induced a dose- and time-dependent increase in FDG uptake. The FOG increase was transient, suggesting that FDG uptake is only likely to be increased by acute hypoxia (<24 h). Molecular analysis indicated that hypoxia upregulated glut1 and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase, key proteins involved in regulating glucose transport and glycolysis, and that these changes were induced by Hypoxia-Inducible factor 1 (HIF1) upregulation and/or AMP-activated protein kinase activation. Conclusions: FDG may provide useful information about the oxygenation status of cells in hypoxic regions where HIF1 upregulation is hypoxia-driven. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.