Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a new therapeutic target in JAK2V617F-positive myeloproliferative neoplasms

Leukemia. 2020 Apr;34(4):1062-1074. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0629-z. Epub 2019 Nov 14.

Abstract

Classical Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic malignancies including polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). The JAK2V617F mutation plays a central role in these disorders and can be found in 90% of PV and ~50-60% of ET and PMF. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a master transcriptional regulator of the response to decreased oxygen levels. We demonstrate the impact of pharmacological inhibition and shRNA-mediated knockdown (KD) of HIF-1α in JAK2V617F-positive cells. Inhibition of HIF-1 binding to hypoxia response elements (HREs) with echinomycin, verified by ChIP, impaired growth and survival by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in Jak2V617F-positive 32D cells, but not Jak2WT controls. Echinomycin selectively abrogated clonogenic growth of JAK2V617F cells and decreased growth, survival, and colony formation of bone marrow and peripheral blood mononuclear cells and iPS cell-derived progenitor cells from JAK2V617F-positive patients, while cells from healthy donors were unaffected. We identified HIF-1 target genes involved in the Warburg effect as a possible underlying mechanism, with increased expression of Pdk1, Glut1, and others. That was underlined by transcriptome analysis of primary patient samples. Collectively, our data show that HIF-1 is a new potential therapeutic target in JAK2V617F-positive MPN.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Apoptosis
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Cell Cycle
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Echinomycin / pharmacology*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / genetics
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / metabolism*
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / pathology*
  • Janus Kinase 2 / genetics*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mutation*
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / drug therapy
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / genetics
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / metabolism
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / pathology*
  • Prognosis
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • HIF1A protein, human
  • Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit
  • Echinomycin
  • JAK2 protein, human
  • Janus Kinase 2