bHypoxia often occurs under various physiological and pathophysiological conditions, including solid tumors; it is linked to malignant transformation, metastatic progression, and treatment failure or resistance. Tip110 protein plays important roles in several known physiological and pathophysiological processes, including cancers. Thus, in the present study we investigated the regulation of Tip110 expression under hypoxia. Hypoxia led to Tip110 protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Under hypoxia, Tip110 stabilized p53, which in return destabilized Tip110. In addition, Tip110 regulated hypoxia-inducible factor 1␣ (HIF-1␣), likely through enhancement of its protein stability. Furthermore, Tip110 upregulated p300, a known coactivator for both p53 and HIF-1␣. Expression of a p53(22/23) mutant deficient in p300 binding accelerated Tip110 degradation under hypoxia. Tip110 knockdown resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation and cell death in the presence of p53. Finally, significantly less Tip110, p53, and HIF-1␣ was detected in the hypoxic region of bone metastasis tumors in a mouse model of human melanoma cells. Taken together, these results suggest Tip110 is an important mediator in the cross talk between p53 and HIF-1␣ in response to hypoxic stress.
Hypoxia is the common characteristic of many solid tumors. The adaptation of cells to hypoxia is mediated by hypoxiainducible factor (HIF), a transcription factor, at the molecular level (1). Under normal oxygen conditions (normoxia), HIF-1␣ is hydroxylated, which promotes its binding to the ubiquitin ligase von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL), thereby targeting it for ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS)-mediated degradation. However, under hypoxic conditions, HIF-1␣ becomes less hydroxylated, leading to its rapid accumulation and subsequent activation of hundreds of genes involved in cell survival, as well as genes involved in apoptosis (2). This opposing function of HIF in determining different cell fates is dependent on the physiopathological context and differential binding to other key partners, such as tumor suppressor protein p53.Similarly to HIF-1␣, p53 stability is also regulated by the hypoxic condition. p53 plays a crucial role in response to DNA damage, aberrant cell control, apoptosis, and senescence (3, 4). p53 function is constitutively regulated in different types of tumors under hypoxia by different mechanisms, such as p53 mutation, expression of inhibitors, or unknown host regulatory elements leading to induction of resistance to p53-mediated apoptosis. In normal cells, p53 protein expression is maintained at a low, often undetectable level due to ubiquitin-mediated proteasome degradation (5). Upon exposure to stress, such as oncogenic activation and certain hypoxic situations, p53 becomes stabilized. Consequently, p53 activates genes involved in cell cycle regulation and genes involved in apoptotic events (4).HIV-1 Tat-interacting protein 110 (Tip110), also known as "squamous cell carcinoma antigen recognized by T cells 3" (SA...