Roles of AKT1 and AKT2 in non-small cell lung cancer cell survival, growth, and migration

The Mu opioid receptor promotes opioid and growth factor-induced proliferation, migration and Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in human lung cancer

Recent epidemiologic studies implying differences in cancer recurrence based on anesthetic regimens raise the possibility that the mu opioid receptor (MOR) can influence cancer progression. Based on our previous observations that overexpression of MOR in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells increased tumor growth and metastasis, this study examined whether MOR regulates growth factor receptor signaling and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human NSCLC cells. We utilized specific siRNA, shRNA, chemical inhibitors and overexpression vectors in human H358 NSCLC cells that were either untreated or treated with various concentrations of DAMGO, morphine, fentanyl, EGF or IGF. Cell function assays, immunoblot and immunoprecipitation assays were then performed. Our results indicate MOR regulates opioid and growth factor-induced EGF receptor signaling (Src, Gab-1, PI3K, Akt and STAT3 activation) which is crucial for consequent human NSCLC cell proliferation and migration. In addition, human NSCLC cells treated with opioids, growth factors or MOR overexpression exhibited an increase in snail, slug and vimentin and decrease ZO-1 and claudin-1 protein levels, results consistent with an EMT phenotype. Further, these effects were reversed with silencing (shRNA) or chemical inhibition of MOR, Src, Gab-1, PI3K, Akt and STAT3 (p<0.05). Our data suggest a possible direct effect of MOR on opioid and growth factor-signaling and consequent proliferation, migration and EMT transition during lung cancer progression. Such an effect provides a plausible explanation for the epidemiologic findings.

The novel miR-9500 regulates the proliferation and migration of human lung cancer cells by targeting Akt1

MicroRNAs have crucial roles in lung cancer cell development. They regulate cell growth, proliferation and migration by mediating the expression of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. We identified and characterized the novel miR-9500 in human lung cancer cells. The miR-9500 forms a stem-loop structure and is conserved in other mammals. The expression levels of miR-9500 were reduced in lung cancer cells and lung cancer tissues compared with normal tissues, as verified by TaqMan miRNA assays. It was confirmed that the putative target gene, Akt1, was directly suppressed by miR-9500, as demonstrated by a luciferase reporter assay. The miR-9500 significantly repressed the protein expression levels of Akt1, as demonstrated via western blot, but did not affect the corresponding mRNA levels. Akt1 has an important role in lung carcinogenesis, and depletion of Akt1 has been shown to have antiproliferative and anti-migratory effects in previous studies. In the current study, the overexpression of miR-9500 inhibited cell proliferation and the expression of cell cycle-related proteins. Likewise, the overexpression of miR-9500 impeded cell migration in human lung cancer cells. In an in vivo assay, miR-9500 significantly suppressed Fluc expression compared with NC and ASO-miR-9500, suggesting that cell proliferation was inhibited in nude mice. Likewise, miR-9500 repressed tumorigenesis and metastasis by targeting Akt1. These data indicate that miR-9500 might be applicable for lung cancer therapy.

Mcl-1 mediates TWEAK/Fn14-induced non-small cell lung cancer survival and therapeutic response

Insensitivity to standard clinical interventions, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment, remains a substantial hindrance towards improving the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The molecular mechanism of therapeutic resistance remains poorly understood. The TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK)-FGF-inducible 14 (TNFRSF12A/Fn14) signaling axis is known to promote cancer cell survival via NF-κB activation and the upregulation of prosurvival Bcl-2 family members. Here, a role was determined for TWEAK-Fn14 prosurvival signaling in NSCLC through the upregulation of myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (MCL1/Mcl-1). Mcl-1 expression significantly correlated with Fn14 expression, advanced NSCLC tumor stage, and poor patient prognosis in human primary NSCLC tumors. TWEAK stimulation of NSCLC cells induced NF-κB-dependent Mcl-1 protein expression and conferred Mcl-1-dependent chemo- and radioresistance. Depletion of Mcl-1 via siRNA or pharmacologic inhibition of Mcl-1, using EU-5148, sensitized TWEAK-treated NSCLC cells to cisplatin- or radiation-mediated inhibition of cell survival. Moreover, EU-5148 inhibited cell survival across a panel of NSCLC cell lines. In contrast, inhibition of Bcl-2/Bcl-xL function had minimal effect on suppressing TWEAK-induced cell survival. Collectively, these results position TWEAK-Fn14 signaling through Mcl-1 as a significant mechanism for NSCLC tumor cell survival and open new therapeutic avenues to abrogate the high mortality rate seen in NSCLC.

IMPLICATIONS

The TWEAK-Fn14 signaling axis enhances lung cancer cell survival and therapeutic resistance through Mcl-1, positioning both TWEAK-Fn14 and Mcl-1 as therapeutic opportunities in lung cancer.

Knockdown of CABYR-a/b increases chemosensitivity of human non-small cell lung cancer cells through inactivation of Akt

CABYR is a calcium-binding tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated protein that was identified as a novel cancer testis antigen in lung cancer in our previous study. However, the role of CABYR as a driver of disease progression or as a chemosensitizer is poorly understood. This study sought to investigate the relationship between the expression levels of CABYR-a/b, which are the two predominant isoforms of the five isoform proteins encoded by CABYR, and chemosensitivity in non-small cell lung cancer cells. We found that the short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of CABYR-a/b significantly inhibited the proliferation of NCI-H460 and A549 cells and resulted in the attenuation of Akt phosphorylation, which is constitutively active in lung cancer cells. The silencing of CABYR-a/b expression notably impacted the downstream components of the Akt pathways: decreasing the phospho-GSK-3β (Ser9) levels and increasing the expression of the p53 and p27 proteins. Furthermore, CABYR-a/b knockdown led to a significant increase in chemosensitivity in response to chemotherapeutic drugs and drug-induced apoptosis, both in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, the transient transfection of CABYR-a/b-depleted cells with constitutively active Akt partially restored the resistance to cisplatin and paclitaxel and significantly decreased the activation of GSK-3β and cleaved PARP. Taken together, our results suggest that the inhibition of CABYR-a/b is a novel method to improve the apoptotic response and chemosensitivity in lung cancer and that this cancer testis antigen is an attractive target for lung cancer drug development.

IMPLICATIONS

Suppression of CABYR-a/b expression increases chemosensitivity of lung cancer cells by inhibiting Akt activity.

Distinct roles of Akt1 in regulating proliferation, migration and invasion in HepG2 and HCT 116 cells

Elucidating the effects of genes involved in tumors may improve therapeutic strategies for human cancer. Recently, several studies discovered that Akt1 plays a dual role in mediating cell proliferation, migration and invasion, depending on the cell type. However, the pathophysiological role of Akt1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal carcinoma cells remains poorly understood. In the present study, we transfected the Akt1-expressing plasmids into the tumor cells that expressed only low levels of Akt1. The migration and invasion abilities were analyzed in 24-well Boyden chambers. The expression of proteins was detected using western blot analysis. Our results demonstrated that overexpression of Akt1 significantly enhanced the proliferation rates and promoted the colony formation in both HepG2 and HCT 116 cells. When treated with wortmannin, the ability to form colonies was significantly attenuated in both cell lines. Of note, enforced expression of Akt1 induced HepG2 cell migration and invasion; by contrast, upregulation of Akt1 expression suppressed the migration and invasion of HCT 116 cells. Subsequent mechanistic investigations revealed that upregulation of Akt1 markedly induced the expression of Bcl-2 and NF-κB in both types of tumor cells. Notably, we observed a similar increase of MMP2, MMP9, HIF1α and VEGF in HCC cells, whereas Akt1 significantly suppressed the expression of these molecules in colorectal carcinoma cells. These data suggest a dual role for Akt1 in tumor cell migration and invasion and highlight the cell type-specific actions of Akt1 kinases in the regulation of cell motility.

Cell survival and metastasis regulation by Akt signaling in colorectal cancer

Dissemination of cancer cells to distant organ sites is the leading cause of death due to treatment failure in different types of cancer. Mehlen and Puisieux have reviewed the importance of the development of inappropriate cell survival signaling for various steps in the metastatic process and have noted the particular importance of aberrant cell survival to successful colonization at the metastatic site. Therefore, the understanding of mechanisms that govern cell survival fate of these metastatic cells could lead to the understanding of a new paradigm for the control of metastatic potential and could provide the basis for developing novel strategies for the treatment of metastases. Numerous studies have documented the widespread role of Akt in cell survival and metastasis in colorectal cancer, as well as many other types of cancer. Akt acts as a key signaling node that bridges the link between oncogenic receptors to many essential pro-survival cellular functions, and is perhaps the most commonly activated signaling pathway in human cancer. In recent years, Akt2 and Akt3 have emerged as significant contributors to malignancy alongside the well-characterized Akt1 isoform, with distinct non-overlapping functions. This review is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the Akt-driven cell survival mechanisms that contribute to cancer progression and metastasis and the pharmacological inhibitors in clinical trials designed to counter the Akt-driven cell survival responses in cancer.

Age and space irradiation modulate tumor progression: implications for carcinogenesis risk

Age plays a major role in tumor incidence and is an important consideration when modeling the carcinogenesis process or estimating cancer risks. Epidemiological data show that from adolescence through middle age, cancer incidence increases with age. This effect is commonly attributed to a lifetime accumulation of cellular, particularly DNA, damage. However, during middle age the incidence begins to decelerate and, for many tumor sites, it actually decreases at sufficiently advanced ages. We investigated if the observed deceleration and potential decrease in incidence could be attributed to a decreased capacity of older hosts to support tumor progression, and whether HZE [high atomic number (Z), high energy (E)] radiation differentially modulates tumor progression in young vs. middle-age hosts, issues that are relevant to estimating carcinogenesis risk for astronauts. Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells were injected into syngeneic mice (143 and 551 days old), which were then subject to whole-body (56)Fe irradiation (1 GeV/amu). Three findings emerged: (1) among unirradiated animals, substantial inhibition of tumor progression and significantly decreased tumor growth rates were seen for middle-aged mice compared to young mice, (2) whole-body (56)Fe irradiation inhibited tumor progression in both young and middle-aged mice (with greater suppression seen in case of young animals), with little effect on tumor growth rates, and (3) (56)Fe irradiation suppressed tumor progression in young mice to a degree that was not significantly different than transiting from young to middle-aged. Thus, (56)Fe irradiation acted similar to aging with respect to tumor progression. We further investigated the molecular underpinnings driving the radiation modulation of tumor dynamics in young and middle-aged mice. Through global gene expression analysis, the key players, FASN, AKT1 and the CXCL12/CXCR4 complex, were determined to be contributory. In sum, these findings demonstrated a reduced capacity of middle-aged hosts to support the progression phase of carcinogenesis and identify molecular factors that contribute to HZE radiation modulation of tumor progression as a function of age.

Involvement of Akt isoforms in chemoresistance of endometrial carcinoma cells

OBJECTIVE

In tumors, upstream regulation of Akt is affected by oncogenic events which lead to its constitutive activation and promote cell survival. Since studies have demonstrated that the three Akt isoforms exhibit different physiological functions, Akt isoforms may contribute differently in chemoresistance. The objective of the study was to determine the role of each Akt isoforms in chemoresistance.

METHODS

We stably transfected the chemoresistant KLE endometrial carcinoma cells with specific shRNAs for Akt1, Akt2 or Akt3. Alternatively, we stably transfected the chemosensitive Hec-1-A endometrial carcinoma cells, in which no Akt activity is detected, with constitutively active Akt expression vectors for each isoform.

RESULTS

We demonstrated that Akt1 and Akt2 downregulation by RNAi highly sensitizes KLE cells to cisplatin by inducing the activation of pro-apoptotic factors such as the cleavage of caspases-3, -6, -9 and PARP; downregulation of all Akt isoforms leads to increased sensitivity to doxorubicin while only Akt1-2 downregulation increases taxol sensitivity. Proliferation of Akt1, and mostly Akt2 deficient cells was affected by cisplatin treatment. Constitutive Akt1 or Akt2 expression led to an increased resistance to apoptosis. Akt isoforms have been shown to influence migration in other cancer cells. We showed that Akt2 blocks cell motility, while Akt1-3 had less effect on our endometrial cancer cell models.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the contribution of Akt1 and Akt2 in the molecular mechanisms that govern chemoresistance of endometrial carcinomas. Furthermore, Akt isoform-specific transfectants will provide a strong model to determine the involvement of each Akt isoform in tumor progression and metastasis.

Perifosine-mediated Akt inhibition in neuroendocrine tumor cells: role of specific Akt isoforms

The majority of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the gastroenteropancreatic system show aberrant Akt activity. Several inhibitors of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI(3)K)-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway are currently being evaluated in clinical phase II and III studies for the treatment of NETs with promising results. However, the molecular mechanisms and particularly the role of different Akt isoforms in NET signaling are not fully understood. In this study, we examine the effect of Akt inhibition on NET cells of heterogeneous origin. We show that the Akt inhibitor perifosine effectively inhibits Akt phosphorylation and cell viability in human pancreatic (BON1), bronchus (NCI-H727), and midgut (GOT1) NET cells. Perifosine treatment suppressed the phosphorylation of Akt downstream targets such as GSK3α/β, MDM2, and p70S6K and induced apoptosis. To further investigate the role of individual Akt isoforms for NET cell function, we specifically blocked Akt1, Akt2, and Akt3 via siRNA transfection. In contrast to Akt2 knockdown, knockdown of Akt isoforms 1 and 3 decreased phosphorylation levels of GSK3α/β, MDM2, and p70S6K and suppressed NET cell viability and colony-forming capacity. The inhibitory effect of simultaneous downregulation of Akt1 and Akt3 on tumor cell viability was significantly stronger than that caused by downregulation of all Akt isoforms, suggesting a particular role for Akt1 and Akt3 in NET signaling. Akt3 siRNA-induced apoptosis while all three isoform-specific siRNAs impaired BON1 cell invasion. Together, our data demonstrate potent antitumor effects of the pan-Akt inhibitor perifosine on NET cells in vitro and suggest that selective targeting of Akt1 and/or Akt3 might improve the therapeutic potential of Akt inhibition in NET disease.