Regulation of Protein Synthesis by Hypoxia via Activation of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase PERK and Phosphorylation of the Translation Initiation Factor eIF2α

Hypoxia profoundly influences tumor development and response to therapy. While progress has been made in identifying individual gene products whose synthesis is altered under hypoxia, little is known about the mechanism by which hypoxia induces a global downregulation of protein synthesis. A critical step in the regulation of protein synthesis in response to stress is the phosphorylation of translation initiation factor eIF2alpha on Ser51, which leads to inhibition of new protein synthesis. Here we report that exposure of human diploid fibroblasts and transformed cells to hypoxia led to phosphorylation of eIF2alpha, a modification that was readily reversed upon reoxygenation. Expression of a transdominant,…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• UP
  U.S. Public Health Service
• NC
  National Cancer Institute