Vitamin C is dispensable for oxygen sensing in vivo

Prolyl-4-hydroxylation is necessary for proper structural assembly of collagens and oxygen-dependent protein stability of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). In vitro function of HIF prolyl-4-hydroxylase domain (PHD) enzymes requires oxygen and 2-oxoglutarate as cosubstrates with iron(II) and vitamin C serving as cofactors. Although vitamin C deficiency is known to cause the collagen-disassembly disease scurvy, it is unclear whether cellular oxygen sensing is similarly affected. Here, we report that vitamin C-deprived Gulo(-/-) knockout mice show normal HIF-dependent gene expression. The systemic response of Gulo(-/-) animals to inspiratory hypoxia, as measured by plasma erythropoietin levels, was similar to that of animals supplemented with vitamin C. Hypoxic HIF induction was also essentially normal under serum- and vitamin C-free cell-culture conditions, suggesting that vitamin C is not required for oxygen sensing in vivo. Glutathione was found to fully substitute for vitamin C requirement of all 3 PHD isoforms in vitro. Consistently, glutathione also reduced HIF-1α protein levels, transactivation activity, and endogenous target gene expression in cells exposed to CoCl(2). A Cys201Ser mutation in PHD2 increased basal hydroxylation rates and conferred resistance to oxidative damage in vitro, suggesting that this surface-accessible PHD2 cysteine residue is a target of antioxidative protection by vitamin C and glutathione.