Selective Inhibition Studies of Factor Inhibiting Hif (fih)

The control of oxygen delivery to cells in the body is the result of a small group of primary oxygen sensors, one of the most important of which is the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor-1 (HIF-1). Two alpha-ketoglutarate dependent non-heme iron dioxygenases are responsible for the regulation of HIF-1 through hydroxylation of residues on the HIF-1a subunit. One of these enzymes, known as the factor inhibiting HIF-1 (FIH-1) is responsible for hydroxylating residue Asn803 on HIF-1a, preventing the transcription of hypoxia related genes controlled by HIF-1. It was hypothesized that there would be a difference in inhibition of FIH-1 from the other HIF-1 regulating enzyme, the prolyl hydroxylase domain-2 (PHD2), when testing a series of ten small molecule inhibitors. The ten inhibitors chosen fell into three classes: pyrones, pyridines, and catechols. Of these inhibitors, it was found that catechols produced a significant inhibitory difference between PHD2 and FIH, and may provide useful in further inhibitor design and synthesis work