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FOXA1 inhibits hypoxia programs through transcriptional repression of HIF1A

Oncogene volume 41, pages 4259–4270 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Intratumoral hypoxia is associated with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), a lethal disease. FOXA1 is an epithelial transcription factor that is down-regulated in CRPC. We have previously reported that FOXA1 loss induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cell motility through elevated TGFβ signaling. However, whether FOXA1 directly regulates hypoxia pathways of CRPC tumors has not been previously studied. Here we report that FOXA1 down-regulation induces hypoxia transcriptional programs, and FOXA1 level is negatively correlated with hypoxia markers in clinical prostate cancer (PCa) samples. Mechanistically, FOXA1 directly binds to an intragenic enhancer of HIF1A to inhibit its expression, and HIF1A, in turn, is critical in mediating FOXA1 loss-induced hypoxia gene expression. Further, we identify CCL2, a chemokine ligand that modulates tumor microenvironment and promotes cancer progression, as a crucial target of the FOXA1-HIF1A axis. We found that FOXA1 loss leads to immunosuppressive macrophage infiltration and increased cell invasion, dependent on HIF1A expression. Critically, therapeutic targeting of HIF1A-CCL2 using pharmacological inhibitors abolishes FOXA1 loss-induced macrophage infiltration and PCa cell invasion. In summary, our study reveals an essential role of FOXA1 in controlling the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and establishes the HIF1A-CCL2 axis as one mechanism of FOXA1 loss-induced CRPC progression.

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Fig. 1: FOXA1 down-regulation in PCa cells induces hypoxia programs.
Fig. 2: FOXA1 directly inhibits HIF1A transcription through an intragenic enhancer.
Fig. 3: FOXA1 inhibits hypoxia programs and CCL2 gene expression through HIF1A.
Fig. 4: FOXA1 loss-induced HIF1A promotes macrophage infiltration and cell invasion.
Fig. 5: Targeting HIF1A/CCL2 axis abolishes FOXA1 loss-induced hypoxia programs, macrophage infiltration, and cell invasion.

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Data availability

RNA-seq data generated in this study were deposited to the NCBI GEO database under accession number GSE195571. Secure token for reviewers: oxelgsegfhotdsl

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the NIH prostate SPORE P50CA180995 (to JY), NIH R50CA211271 (to JCZ), and Prostate Cancer Foundation 2017CHAL2008 (to JY, JCZ). LB, SHP, and GG were supported in part by NIH/NCI training grant T32 CA009560.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Xiaohai Wang, Lourdes Brea.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Xiaohai Wang, Lourdes Brea, Xiaodong Lu, Galina Gritsina, Su H. Park, Wanqing Xie, Jonathan C. Zhao & Jindan Yu

  2. Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Xiaohai Wang

  3. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jindan Yu

  4. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jindan Yu

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Contributions

JY and XW conceived the project. JY, XW, and LB designed experiments. XW, LB, XL, WX, and SHP performed experiments. GG assisted with PDX tissue acquisition. JCZ, LB, and JY conducted bioinformatics and statistical analysis. JY, XW, and LB wrote the manuscript and generated figures. All authors read the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jindan Yu.

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Wang, X., Brea, L., Lu, X. et al. FOXA1 inhibits hypoxia programs through transcriptional repression of HIF1A. Oncogene 41, 4259–4270 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-022-02423-6

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