Role of HIF-1α in the migration/invasion processes in response to photon and C-ion irradiations

International audiencePurpose: The survival rate of patients with HNSCC remains low due to recurrences. Metastasis, but also cancer stem cells (CSC), located in hypoxic niches, play a key role in these relapses. HIF-1α protein (Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1α), stabilized by hypoxia and radical species induced by ionizing radiations, is involved in the radio-resistance to photons but also in the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). The understanding of the differential molecular mechanisms HIF-1α-dependent involved in the EMT and induced by photons and C-ion radiations must be deepened under normoxic conditions and particularly under hypoxia in CSCs, especially since hypoxia constitutes a tumor microenvironment promoting metastases and CSCs