Effect of HSF4b on age related cataract may through its novel downstream target Hif1α

•We found that HSF4 downregulation led to decrease of HIF1α mRNA expression.•We demonstrated by ChIP that HIF-1α is bound by HSF4b near promoters.•HSF4b may play it role in cataract development through its downstream target HIF1α.

Our previous study identified five new heat shock factor 4 (HSF4) mutations in 150 age-related cataract (ARC) patients which indicated that HSF4 mutations may be associated with this disease. Hypoxia-inducible factor (Hif1α) is an important downstream target of HSF4b. It has been found that Hif1α play also important roles in cataract development. To identify if HSF4b play it role in cataract development through HIF1α, we transfected SRA01/04 lens epithelial cells with small hairpin RNA of HSF4b and measured expressions Hif1α after transfection. Then, we perform chromatin immunoprecipitation quantitative PCR to see the relationship between HSF4b and HIF1α. We found that HSF4 downregulation led to decrease of HIF1α mRNA expression. Furthermore, we demonstrated by ChIP followed by quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) that these HIF-1α is bound by HSF4b near promoters, not gene bodies.