Investigation of the effects of hypoxia-induced factors on telomerase and epithelial mesenchymal transfer genes expression in non-small cell lung cancers

O2 is an important molecule for aerobic respiration organisms to maintain their cell metabolism and homeostasis. A decrease in oxygen below the normal level in the cells is defined as hypoxia. In hypoxic conditions, Hypoxia-Induced Factors (HIFs) are activated in solitary cancer cells. Thus, in tumor cells; The tumor becomes aggressive by accelerating processes such as angiogenesis (VEGF), glucose transport (GLUT), metastasis and invasion. In this research, by performing HIF-1 beta transfection in A549 cells, the cells were exposed to 150 μM CoCl2 for 4 hours to create a hypoxic condition. Thus, Hypoxia Induced Factors (HIFs); Its effect on telomerase (hTERT) and Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) gene expression was investigated. As a result of the research, by silencing HIF-1 beta (ARNT) in hypoxic conditions (siARNT); While there is a decrease in the expression of genes such as Zeb1, Snail, which are the markers of mesenchymal cells; An increase in the expression of E-cadherin, a marker of epithelial cells, was observed. On the other hand, the indicator of angiogenesis; It was observed that there was a decrease in the expression levels of VEGF, GLUT1 and hTERT. These data include HIFs (HIFs); It is effective on telomerase (hTERT) and EMT expression; shows that cancer cells can offer new approaches by supporting them with further research on invasion, metastasis, immortality and drug resistance properties. Key Words: NSCLC, Hypoxia, HIF, EMT, hTERT