Villareal LB, Falcon DM, Xie L, Xue X. Hypoxia-inducible factor 3α1 increases epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and iron uptake to drive colorectal cancer liver metastasis.
Br J Cancer 2024:10.1038/s41416-024-02699-3. [PMID:
38693428 DOI:
10.1038/s41416-024-02699-3]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-3α1's role in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, especially its effects on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) gene expression, and iron metabolism, remains largely unstudied. This research sought to elucidate these relationships.
METHODS
RNA-seq was conducted to investigate the impact of HIF-3α1 overexpression in CRC cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assays assessed the direct targeting of ZEB2 by HIF-3α1. Scratch assays measured changes in cell migration following HIF-3α1 overexpression and ZEB2 knockdown. The effects of HIF-3α1 overexpression on colon tumour growth and liver metastasis were examined in vivo. Iron chelation was used to explore the role of iron metabolism in HIF-3α1-mediated EMT and tumour growth.
RESULTS
HIF-3α1 overexpression induced EMT and upregulated ZEB2 expression, enhancing cancer cell migration. ZEB2 knockdown reduced mesenchymal markers and cell migration. HIF-3α1 promoted colon tumour growth and liver metastasis, increased transferrin receptor (TFRC) expression and cellular iron levels, and downregulated HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and NDRG1. Iron chelation mitigated HIF-3α1-mediated EMT, tumour growth, and survival.
CONCLUSIONS
HIF-3α1 plays a critical role in colon cancer progression by promoting EMT, iron accumulation, and metastasis through ZEB2 and TFRC regulation, suggesting potential therapeutic targets in CRC.
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