Oxygen sensing is crucial for adaptation to variable habitats and physiological conditions. Low oxygen tension, or hypoxia, is a common feature of solid tumors and hypoxic tumors are often more aggressive and resistant to therapy. Here we show that, in mammalian tissue culture cells, hypoxia suppressed lysosomal acidification/activation and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) degradation. Hypoxia down-regulated mTORc1, reducing its ability to activate transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of v-ATPase, the lysosomal proton pump. Hypoxia prevented epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) degradation in tumor tissues, whereas activation of lysosomes enhanced tumor cell response to anti-EGFR treatment. Our results linkoxygen tension and lysosomal activity, provide a molecular explanation of the malignant phenotype associated with hypoxic tumors, and suggest activation of lysosomes may provide therapeutic benefit in RTK-targeted cancer therapy.

Citation Format: Jaewoo Hong, P. Charles Lin, Todd Wuest, Yongfen Min. Oxygen tension regulates lysosomal activation and receptor tyrosine kinase degradation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2655.

©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.
2019
American Association for Cancer Research.