Anti-Akt (Ab-473) Antibody (A36519)

Recent evidence suggests that HER2 (ErbB2; Her-2/neu) and the related PI3K/Akt signaling pathway substantially affect the malignant phenotype of colorectal cancer cells. Moreover, fatty acid synthase (FASN), which mediates de-novo fatty acid synthesis, is crucially important in the carcinogenesis process of a variety of cancers, including colorectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the malignant phenotype regulation of colorectal cancer cells via the "HER2-PI3K/Akt-FASN axis". Caco-2 cells with high expression of HER2 and FASN and high transfection efficiency were selected for functional characterization. The cells were transfected with either HER2-specific RNAi plasmid or negative control RNAi plasmid, followed by Q-RT-PCR and western blot assays to examine expression of HER2, PI3K, Akt, and FASN. MTT and colony-formation assays were used to assess proliferation. Migration was investigated by use of the transwell assay, and apoptosis and cell cycle were assayed by use of flow cytometry. Expression of HER2, PI3K, Akt, and FASN were downregulated when HER2 was silenced. Proliferation decreased after downregulation of HER2, which was consistent with increased apoptosis. Migration of HER2-silenced cells was also impaired. Loss of HER2 inhibits the activity of the "HER2-PI3K/Akt-FASN axis" of Caco-2 cells, and reduced activity of this axis alters the malignant behavior of Caco-2 cells.

The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a heterodimeric basic helix-loop-helix transcriptional factor and the activated HIF plays pivotal roles in various pathological conditions, including inflammation and cancer. HIF-1alpha overexpression has been observed in many common human cancers, including brain, breast, colon, lung, ovary, and prostate, and HIF-mediated genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, are associated with tumor angiogenesis, metastasis, and invasion. Therefore, the pro-oncogenic protein HIF is a novel target of cancer therapy. We examined the effects of VEGFR inhibitors, AAL993, SU5416, and KRN633, on suppression of HIF-1alpha accumulation under the hypoxic condition. We found that VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, AAL993, SU5416, and KRN633, possess dual functions: inhibition of VEGFR signaling and HIF-1alpha expression under the hypoxic condition. The detailed mechanistic study indicated that SU5416 and KRN633 suppressed HIF-1alpha expression through inhibition of both Akt and ERK phosphorylation signaling pathways, whereas AAL993 suppressed HIF-1alpha expression through ERK inhibition without affecting Akt phosphorylation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and function of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 (TRPV2) in human glioma cells. By Real-Time-PCR and western blot analysis, we found that TRPV2 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein were expressed in benign astrocyte tissues, and its expression progressively declined in high-grade glioma tissues as histological grade increased (n = 49 cases), and in U87MG cells and in MZC, FCL and FSL primary glioma cells. To investigate the function of TRPV2 in glioma, small RNA interfering was used to silence TRPV2 expression in U87MG cells. As evaluated by RT-Profiler PCR array, siTRPV2-U87MG transfected cells displayed a marked downregulation of Fas and procaspase-8 mRNA expression, associated with upregulation of cyclin E1, cyclin-dependent kinase 2, E2F1 transcriptor factor 1, V-raf-1 murine leukemia viral oncogene homolog 1 and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bcl-X(L)) mRNA expression. TRPV2 silencing increased U87MG cell proliferation as shown by the increased percentage of cells incorporating 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine expressing beta(III)-tubulin and rescued glioma cells to Fas-induced apoptosis. These events were dependent on extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation: indeed inhibition of ERK activation in siTRPV2-U87MG transfected cells by treatment with PD98059, a specific mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase inhibitor, reduced Bcl-X(L) protein levels, promoted Fas expression, and restored Akt/protein kinase B pathway activation leading to reduced U87MG cell survival and proliferation, and increased sensitivity to Fas-induced apoptosis. In addition, transfection of TRPV2 in MZC glioma cells, by inducing Fas overexpression, resulted in a reduced viability and an increased spontaneous and Fas-induced apoptosis. Overall, our findings indicate that TRPV2 negatively controls glioma cell survival and proliferation, as well as resistance to Fas-induced apoptotic cell death in an ERK-dependent manner.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a cytokine that contributes substantially to the growth and metastasis in a wide spectrum of malignancies. We report here that OPN gene is transactivated by Tax protein of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). Northern blot showed enhanced OPN gene expression in cells stably expressing Tax. Co-expression of Tax increased the reporter gene expression directed by OPN promoter. Tax-induced OPN activation was abrogated by treatment with LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) or co-transfection with AKT siRNA, suggesting PI3K/AKT pathway is involved in Tax-mediated transactivation. Reporter assay with deletion mutants showed that the 5'-partial sequence between -765 and -660 of the OPN promoter is the region responsive to Tax, and further, disrupting the AP-1 site within this region abolished the OPN induction by Tax, indicating that Tax activation of OPN promoter is likely mediated by AP-1 site. This study suggests that OPN is one of the downstream mediators of aberrantly activated PI3K/AKT signaling by Tax, which may partially contribute to HTLV-1-associated leukemogenesis.