1. Blockage of epidermal growth factor receptor-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT signaling increases radiosensitivity of K-RAS mutated human tumor cells in vitro by affecting DNA repair
- Author
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Ingo Brammer, Ulla Kasten-Pisula, H. Peter Rodemann, Michael Baumann, Jianyong Chen, Ekkehard Dikomey, Shaomeng Wang, Klaus Dittmann, and Mahmoud Toulany
- Subjects
Cancer Research ,DNA Repair ,DNA repair ,Morpholines ,Biology ,Radiation Tolerance ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Structure-Activity Relationship ,Anti-apoptotic Ras signalling cascade ,Cell Line, Tumor ,Humans ,LY294002 ,Radiosensitivity ,Ellipticines ,Enzyme Inhibitors ,Organic Chemicals ,Protein kinase A ,Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors ,A549 cell ,Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,Autophosphorylation ,Carcinoma ,Transfection ,Molecular biology ,ErbB Receptors ,Genes, ras ,Oncology ,chemistry ,Chromones ,Mutation ,Cancer research ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Purpose: It is known that blockage of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity enhances radiation sensitivity of human tumor cells presenting a K-RAS mutation. In the present study, we investigated whether impaired repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) is responsible for the radiosensitizing effect of EGFR and PI3K inhibition in K-RAS mutated (K-RASmt) cells. Experimental Design: The effect of the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor BIBX1382BS (BIBX) on cellular radiosensitivity was determined in K-RASmt (A549) and K-RASwt (FaDu) cell lines by clonogenic survival assay. Radiation-induced phosphorylation of H2AX (Ser139), ATM (Ser1981), and DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs; Thr2609) was analyzed by immunoblotting. Twenty-four hours after irradiation, residual DSBs were quantified by identification of γH2AX foci and frequency of micronuclei. Results: BIBX reduced clonogenic survival of K-RASmt-A549 cells, but not of K-RASwt-FaDu cells, after single-dose irradiation. Analysis of the radiation-induced H2AX phosphorylation revealed that BIBX, as well as the PI3K inhibitor LY294002, leads to a marked reduction of P-H2AX in K-RASmt-A549 and MDA-MB-231 cells, but not in K-RASwt-FaDu and HH4ded cells. Likewise, radiation-induced autophosphorylation of DNA-PKcs at Thr2609 was only blocked in A549 cells by these two inhibitors and AKT1 small interfering RNA transfection. However, neither in K-RASmt nor in K-RASwt cells the inhibitors did affect radiation-induced ATM phosphorylation. As a consequence of inhibitor treatment, a significant enhancement of both residual DSBs and frequency of micronuclei was apparent only in A549 but not in FaDu cells following radiation. Conclusion: Targeting of the EGFR-dependent PI3K-AKT pathway in K-RAS-mutated A549 cells significantly affects postradiation survival by affecting the activation of DNA-PKcs, resulting in a decreased DSB repair capacity.
- Published
- 2006