Effect of Hypoxia on Expression of HIF-1α, GLUT-1 and MMP-2 in Laryngeal Carcinoma Cell Line Hep-2

Objective To investigate cell proliferation, migration, invasion and the expression of HIF-1α, GLUT-1, MMP-2 in laryngeal carcinoma cell line Hep-2 under hypoxia.

Methods MTT assay was performed to investigate the proliferation of Hep-2 cells under hypoxic conditions; the invasion ability of Hep-2 cells was determined by Transwell assay; the migration ability of Hep-2 cells was determined by wound healing assay; the mRNA and protein expression of HIF-1α, MMP-2 and GLUT-1 were detected by Western blot and real-time PCR at various time points under hypoxia.

Results Under the hypoxia(1％O₂, 5％CO₂ and 94％N₂), the growth activity of Hep-2 cell line was enhanced with the time prolonged, and the migration and invasion abilities of Hep-2 cell were enhanced. The protein expression of HIF-1α in the hypoxia was increased than that in the normoxia, however, HIF-1α mRNA levels had no significant difference between hypoxia and normoxia. The protein and mRNA expression of GLUT-1 and MMP-2 were increased in hypoxic conditions than those in the normoxia.

Conclusion Hypoxic conditions may promote the protein expressions of HIF-1α, GLUT-1 and MMP-2 in laryngeal carcinoma cell line Hep-2; the overexpression of three proteins may have contributed to the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma cells.