TANG Wei^a, TIAN Muzhao^b, WANG Juan^b, CHEN Xu^a

( a. College of Pharmacy, b. College of Basic Medical Sciences, Guilin Medical University,Guilin 541199, China)

Abstract Hypoxia inducible factor-1α ( HIF-1α) is a key transcription factor in cancer progression and an important target for cancer-targeted therapy and its activity depends on the presence or absence of oxygen. In an aerobic environment, HIF-1α is completely inactivated and degraded through the ubiquitin- proteasome pathway. On the contrary, in hypoxic environments, HIF-1α accumulates in the nucleus and subsequently upregulates several genes related to cancer progression. HIF-1α is highly expressed in various types of tumor tissues, and its overexpression, along with downstream genes, supports cancer progression through various mechanisms such as vascular mimicry, glycolysis, invasion, migration, immune escape, and tumor drug resistance. Targeting HIF-1α and its downstream signaling molecules can regulate the development and progression of cancer. Therefore, regulating HIF-1 α, mRNA, and protein levels become new pathways for inhibiting cancer. Considering targeted therapy against HIF-1α and related pathway regulatory factors may become a new therapeutic approach for various malignant tumors, so this article reviews the role of HIF-1α in tumor cell biology and the mechanisms of related drugs.

Keywords: HIF-1α; tumor; biological functions

DOI:10.19296/j.cnki.1008-2409.2024-03-005

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