Abstract
The low oxygen environment in the uterine environment requires pre-implantation embryos to adapt to oxygen deficiency. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 is a master regulator whereby cells adapt to changes in oxygen concentrations. In addition to hypoxic conditions, non-hypoxic stimuli such as growth factors also activate expression of HIF-1. In this study, the mechanisms underlying low oxygen-dependent and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-dependent expression of HIF-1α were explored using porcine trophectoderm (pTr) cells. The results indicated that expression of HIF-1α and HIF-1β mRNAs was not affected by low concentrations of oxygen; however, hypoxic conditions markedly increased the abundance of HIF-1α protein, especially in nuclei of pTr cells. Even under normoxic conditions, the abundance of HIF-1α protein increased in response to EGF. This EGF-mediated increase in HIF-1α protein was blocked through inhibition of translation by cycloheximide. The inhibitors LY294002 (PI3K-AKT inhibitor), U0126 (inhibitor of ERK1/2) and rapamycin (mTOR inhibitor) also blocked the ability of EGF to increase HIF-1α protein and to phosphorylate AKT, ERK1/2 and mTOR proteins. Both hypoxia and EGF induced proliferation of pTr cells. This ability of EGF to stimulate proliferation of pTr cells was suppressed by EGFR siRNA, but not HIF-1α siRNA, but a significant decrease in EGF-induced HIF-1α protein occurred when pTr cells were transfected with HIF-1α siRNA. The results of the present study suggest that pTr cells adapt to oxygen deficiency and proliferate in response to an oxygen-dependent HIF-1 system, and that EGF at maternal-conceptus interface can increase the abundance of HIF-1α protein via translational regulation through AKT, ERK1/2 and mTOR signaling cascades.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 176-182 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Biochemical and biophysical research communications |
Volume | 469 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 Jan 8 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program (No. NRF-2014R1A1A2059493 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by the Basic Science Research Program ( NRF-2013R1A1A3012164 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, Republic of Korea.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Cell signaling
- EGF
- HIF-1
- Hypoxia
- Proliferation
- Trophectoderm
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology