HIF-1α and RhoA Drive Enhanced Motility and Aerotaxis of Polyaneuploid Prostate Cancer Cells in Hypoxia

Most cancer deaths result from metastasis, yet only a rare subset of tumor cells can complete this process. Among these, polyaneuploid cancer cells (PACCs), which arise via endoreplication under stressors such as hypoxia, are implicated as metastatic drivers, but how they acquire this potential is poorly understood. Here, we show that prostate cancer-derived PACCs exhibit features predictive of invasion and intravasation. Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy and single-cell tracking under hypoxia revealed that PACCs migrated significantly farther than Non-PACCs, consistent with local invasion. PACC trajectories showed a strong tendency to migrate toward oxygen, consistent with aerotaxis and predictive of intravasation. siRNA-mediated knockdown demonstrated that the enhanced motility and aerotaxis of hypoxic PACCs require both HIF-1and RhoA, with RhoA expression suppressed upon HIF-1 inhibition. Altogether, we propose a HIF-1[->] RhoA [->] motility/aerotaxis mechanism enabling PACCs to escape hypoxic cores, invade tissue, and access vasculature, highlighting them as a uniquely invasive subpopulation with implications for anti-metastatic therapies.