Background: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a master regulator of the transcriptional response to oxygen deprivation and controls genes involved in glycolysis, angiogenesis, migration and invasion. Overexpression of HIF-1α has been demonstrated in many common human cancers.
Methods: Luciferase reporter gene assay under hypoxia and normoxia was used to demonstrate transcriptional inhibition of HIF-1 by P276-00. Detailed studies such as western blotting, reverse-transcriptase-PCR and immunofluorescence were carried out to elucidate its mechanism of action. Cytotoxic potential of P276-00 under normoxia and hypoxia was determined on prostate cancer cells using CCK-8 assay, and cell-cycle analysis was carried out using flow cytometry. Antiangiogenic activity of P276-00 was demonstrated by migration assay and tube-formation assay. Efficacy study of P276-00 was performed in a PC-3 xenograft model.
Results: P276-00 inhibits transcriptional activation of HIF-1 under hypoxia. It suppressed hypoxia-mediated nuclear HIF-1α expression, as well as phosphorylation of Akt and 4E-BP1 and abrogated expression of HIF-1-inducible gene viz. vascular endothelial growth factor. Under hypoxia, P276-00 did not exhibit enhanced cytotoxic activity in prostate cancer cells but arrested them in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. The tubular formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and migration of prostate cancer cells were also inhibited by P276-00 in vitro. In addition, it demonstrated significant in vivo efficacy in the PC-3 xenograft model.
Conclusions: Given its low toxicity profile, its demonstrated antitumor activity and its potential to inhibit the HIF-1 pathway, P276-00 should be considered as antiangiogenic chemotherapy for prostate cancer.