Regulation of transcription of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) by heat shock factors HSF2 and HSF4.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a principal regulator of angiogenesis and other cellular responses to hypoxic stress in both normal and tumor cells. To identify novel mechanisms that regulate expression of HIF-1α, we designed a genome-wide screen for expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that when transcribed in the antisense direction increase production of the HIF-1α target, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in human breast cancer cells. We discovered that heat shock factor (HSF) proteins 2 and 4-which previously have been implicated in the control of multiple genes that modulate cell growth and differentiation and protect against effects of environmental and cellular stresses-function together to maintain a steady state level of HIF-1α transcription and VEGF production in these cells. We show both HSFs bind to discontinuous heat shock element (HSE) sequences we identified in the HIF-1α promoter region and that downregulation of either HSF activates transcription of HIF-1α. We further demonstrate that HSF2 and HSF4 displace each other from HSF/HSE complexes in the HIF-1α promoter so that HIF-1α transcription is also activated by overexpression of either HSFs. These results argue that HSF2 and HSF4 regulate transcription of HIF-1α and that a critical balance between these HSF is required to maintain HIF-α expression in a repressed state. Our findings reveal a previously unsuspected role for HSFs in control of VEGF and other genes activated by canonical HIF-1α-mediated signaling.