Summary
The hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1 mediates upregulation of plasminogen
activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression under hypoxia. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)
have also been implicated in PAI-1 gene expression. However, the role of ROS in HIF-1-mediated
regulation of PAI-1 is not clear. We therefore investigated the role of the GTPase
Rac1 which modulates ROS production in the pathway leading to HIF-1 and PAI-1 induction.
Overexpression of constitutively activated (RacG12V) or dominant-negative (RacT17N)
Rac1 increased or decreased, respectively, ROS production. In RacG12V-expressing cells,
PAI-1 mRNA levels as well as HIF-1α nuclear presence were reduced under normoxia and
hypoxia whereas expression of RacT17N resulted in opposite effects. Treatment with
the antioxidant pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate or coexpression of the redox factor-1 restored
HIF-1 and PAI-1 promoter activity in RacG12V-cells. In contrast, NFκB activation was
enhanced in RacG12V-cells, but abolished by RacT17N. Thus, these findings suggest
a mechanism explaining modified fibrinolysis and tissue remodeling in an oxidized
environment.
Keywords
PAI-1 - Rac1 - reactive oxygen species - hypoxia - fibrinolysis - thrombosis