Reactive Oxygen Species-generating Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Up-regulates Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α Gene Transcription via Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase-Akt/Protein Kinase C/Histone Deacetylase Pathway

Lewis lung carcinoma-derived high metastatic A11 cells constitutively overexpress hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 alpha mRNA compared with low metastatic P29 cells. Because A11 cells exclusively possess a G13997A mutation in the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ND6) gene, we addressed here a causal relationship between the ND6 mutation and the activation of HIF-1 alpha transcription, and we investigated the potential mechanism. Using trans-mitochondrial cybrids between A11 and P29 cells, we found that the ND6 mutation was directly involved in HIF-1 alpha mRNA overexpression. Stimulation of HIF-1 alpha transcription by the ND6 mutation was mediated by overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt and protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathways. The up-regulation of HIF-1 alpha transcription was abolished by mithramycin A, an Sp1 inhibitor, but luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that Sp1 was necessary but not sufficient for HIF-1 alpha mRNA overexpression in A11 cells. On the other hand, trichostatin A, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, markedly suppressed HIF-1 alpha transcription in A11 cells. In accordance with this, HDAC activity was high in A11 cells but low in P29 cells and in A11 cells treated with the ROS scavenger ebselene, the PI3K inhibitor LY294002, and the PKC inhibitor Ro31-8220. These results suggest that the ROS-generating ND6 mutation increases HIF-1 alpha transcription via the PI3K-Akt/PKC/HDAC pathway, leading to HIF-1 alpha protein accumulation in hypoxic tumor cells.