A HIF1A/miR-485–5p/SRPK1 axis modulates the aggressiveness of glioma cells upon hypoxia

The high aggressiveness of gliomas remains a huge challenge to clinical therapies, and the hypoxic microenvironment in the core region is a critical contributor to glioma aggressiveness. In this study, it was found that miR-485-5p was low expressed within glioma tissue samples and cells. GO enrichment annotation indicated that the predicted downstream targets miR-485-5p were enriched in hypoxia response and decreased oxygen level. In glioma cells, miR-485-5p overexpression suppressed cell viability, migratory ability, and invasive ability under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Through direct binding, miR-485-5p suppressed SRPK1 expression. Under hypoxia, SRPK1 overexpression enhanced hypoxia-induced glioma cell aggressiveness and significantly reversed the effects of miR-485-5p overexpression. Moreover, HIF1A could target the miR-485-5p promoter region to inhibit the transcription. HIF1A, miR-485-5p, and SRPK1 form a regulatory axis, which modulates glioma cell aggressiveness under hypoxia. In conclusion, we identify a HIF1A/miR-485-5p/SRPK1 axis that modulates the aggressiveness of glioma cells under hypoxia. The axis could potentially provide new research avenues in the treatment of gliomas considering the hypoxic environment in its core.