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. 2019 Jun 15;8(6):598. doi: 10.3390/cells8060598

Table 2.

E3 ligases and DUBs affecting the oxygen-independent regulation of HIFs and their involvement in cancer.

Enzymes Involvement in HIF Regulation Involvement in Cancer References
Ub E3 Ligases
RACK1 Competes with HSP90 for binding to HIF-1α to drive HIF-1α degradation
  • Overexpressed in nonsmall cell lung cancer, pulmonary adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, glioma, and breast cancer

  • Reduced in gastric cancer

[87,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173]
CHIP Promotes HIF-1α but not HIF-2α degradation via both proteasomal or lysosomal machinery
  • Overexpressed in gallbladder carcinoma and esophageal and prostate cancer

  • Reduced in breast, gastric, pancreatic, colorectal, and nonsmall cell lung cancer

[46,94,95,96,97,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,181]
MDM2 Regulates HIF-1α stability directly due to E3 ligase activity or indirectly by forming a ternary complex, which is degraded in a p53-dependent manner
  • Overexpressed in mesothelioma and in ovarian cancer

[98,99,182,183,184]
Fbw7 Recruited to GSK-3-phosphorylated HIF-1α for proteasomal degradation.
  • Highly mutated in cholangiocarcinomas and T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia

  • Reduced in glioma, pancreatic cancer

  • Overexpression of FBW7 correlates with better survival of patients with colorectal cancer

  • Regulates cell migration and angiogenesis in an HIF-1α-dependent manner

[110,111,112,185,186,187,188]
HAF Selectively degrades HIF-1α and promotes HIF-2α transactivation during hypoxia
  • Associated with decreased progression-free survival in patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma

  • Overexpression promotes GBM initiation and progression in mice

  • Overexpressed in brain, breast, and colorectal cancer

[101,102,189,190,191]
TRAF6 Increases HIF-1α polylysine-63 ubiquitylation, protecting it from proteasomal degradation;
TRAF6-ATM-H2AX signaling axis promotes HIF1α stabilization and activation
  • Predicts poor survival outcome in human breast, urothelial bladder, and gastric cancer patients

  • Overexpressed in esophageal and pancreatic cancer and melanoma

[104,192,193,194,195,196]
Cullin 5-containing Involved in HSP90-mediated regulation of HIF-1α stability
  • Reduced in breast and gastric cancer and in both endometrioid and serous endometrial adenocarcinomas

  • Has antiproliferative effect in cervical and hepatocellular cancer

[88,197,198,199,200,201]
KLEIP-containing By reducing levels of PML, leads to a activation of mTOR, which promotes HIF-1α signaling;
stabilizes mRNA expression of HIF-2α
  • Promotes tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth that is overexpressed in human prostate cancer mice

[107,108]
BRCA1 Regulates stability of HIF-1α (NRM)
  • Highly mutated in breast and ovarian cancer

[109,202,203]
Pellino3 Ubiquitylates TRAF6 with polylysine-63 to block its interaction with HIF-1α, making it more prone to proteasomal degradation [106]
DUBs
USP7 Deubiquitylation of HIF-1α
  • Overexpressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, cervical cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma

[119,204,205,206]
USP19 Stabilizes HIF-1α and interacts with SIAH1/2 and PHD1/3 regulators
  • Regulates the proliferation of several prostate and breast cancer cell lines

  • Reduced in human kidney renal clear-cell carcinoma

[121,122,207,208]
USP28 Counteracts Fbw7-mediated HIF-1α ubiquitylation
  • Depletion can reduce colon cancer in mice

  • Overexpressed in bladder and gastric cancers

  • Reduction promotes liver cancer and correlates with a worse survival of patients with invasive ductal breast carcinoma

[111,114,115,116,117]
USP52 Stabilizes HIF-1α mRNA
  • Overexpressed in breast carcinomas

[124,209]
OTUD7B Stabilizes HIF-1α and E2F1 transcription factor to control the expression of HIF-2α mRNA;
affects HIF-2α at the transcript level
  • Reduced expression in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and in lung adenocarcinoma

  • High levels are associated with a good prognosis in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer

  • Suppresses Akt activation and Kras-driven lung tumorigenesis in mice

[70,125,127,210,211,212,213]