EGF upregulates RFPL3 and hTERT via the MEK signaling pathway in non ‑small cell lung cancer cells.

EGF upregulates RFPL3 and hTERT via the MEK signaling pathway in non‑small cell lung cancer cells. Oncol Rep. 2018 May 08;: Authors: Lin C, Qin Y, Zhang H, Gao MY, Wang YF Abstract Activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) during tumor development can trigger the MEK signaling pathway. In the present study, we investigated the MEK signaling pathway in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells with respect to the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on expression of Ret finger protein like 3 (RFPL3) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), and the effect of RFPL3 overexpression on other MEK signaling proteins. In vitro, A549 and H1299 cells were treated with different concentrations of EGF for 24 h or 48 h. Expression of RFPL3 and hTERT at the mRNA and protein levels was determined by real‑time quantitative PCR (RT‑qPCR) and western blot analysis; cell viability was detected by MTT assay, and apoptosis was assayed via flow cytometry. We also pretreated A549 and H1299 cells with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, AG1478 and erlotinib, and MEK‑specific inhibitor (PD98059) in the presence of EGF. We used western blot analysis to assess the expression levels of RFPL3, hTERT and related MEK‑pathway proteins in A549 and H1299 cells transfected with RFPL3‑overexpression plasmids. EGF significantly upregulated RFPL3 and hTERT protein levels in the NSCLC cells. RFPL3 and hTERT proteins upregulation ...
Source: Oncology Reports - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Rep Source Type: research