The phosphorylation of AKT and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase markedly increased after transfection of WNT11 into the SBC3 SCLC cell line, which suggests that Wnt11 promotes cell proliferation in SCLC cell lines.
This study for the first time uncovered PIK3CA alterations in SCLC, and our findings suggest that anti-AKT molecular therapy could be effective for a subgroup of SCLC, which shows activation of specific genes, such as PIK3CA mutation, and that genetic stratification of SCLC according to the activation status of individual therapeutic target pathways could be clinically beneficial, especially for chemotherapy-resistant/relapsing tumors.
H(2)O(2) treatment of SCLC cells (over 15 min) led to phosphorylation of c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase and further upregulated downstream phosphorylation of phospho-AKT, ERK1/2, and paxillin in a dose-dependent manner (125 microM to 500 microM). c-Met is an important target in lung cancer, and the pathways responsible for ROS generation together may provide novel therapeutic intervention.
Downregulation of either H- or K-Ras by RNA interference (RNAi) did not impair Erk activation by growth factors, whereas an RNAi specific for N-Ras inhibited activation of Erk, PKB and SCLC cell growth.