Activation of the hedgehog pathway in a subset of lung cancers.

Sumin Chi, Shuhong Huang, Chengxin Li, Xiaoli Zhang, Nonggao He, Manoop S Bhutani, Dennie Jones, Claudia Y Castro, Roberto Logrono, Abida Haque, Joseph Zwischenberger, Stephen K Tyring, Hongwei Zhang, Jingwu Xie

Journal: Cancer letters 2007;244(1):53-60

PMID: 16446029

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Activation of the hedgehog pathway is reported in lung cancer, but its frequency remains unknown. We examine activation of this pathway in lung cancers by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemstry, and find that less than 10% of the tumors have elevated hedgehog target gene expression. We further identify a cell line NCI-H209 and two primary tumors with no detectable Su(Fu), a negative regulator of the pathway. Ectopic expression of Su(Fu) in NCI-H209 cells down-regulates hedgehog target gene expression and leads to inhibition of cell proliferation. These data indicate that activation of the hedgehog pathway is activated through Shh over-expression or Su(Fu) inactivation in only a subset of lung cancers.

Address: Department of Pharmacology, Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1048, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2005.11.036