SUMOylation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α reduces its transcriptional activity

The hypoxic response of mammalian cells is controlled through a transcriptional pathway that is mediated by the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). Here, we show that HIF-1α undergoes post-translational modification by the three isoforms of the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO-1, -2 and -3) in vitro in proximity to and within the oxygen-dependent degradation domain (ODDD). SUMO conjugation is promoted in vitro by the E3 SUMO ligase RanBP2/Nup538 and SUMO modification in vivo does not change HIF-1α turnover rate. Using cotransfection of siRNA targeted to endogenous HIF-1α together with HIF-1α siRNA-resistant expression vectors carrying mutations for SUMO modification we demonstrate increased hypoxia-response element-dependent transcriptional activity for SUMO-deficient HIF-1α. These results indicate that when HIF-1α is conjugated to SUMO its transcriptional activity is decreased and that this is not mediated by a change in the protein’s half-life.