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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Regulation of pancreatic cancer growth by superoxide.

Authors: Du, Juan; Nelson, Elke S; Simons, Andrean L; Olney, Kristen E; Moser, Justin C; Schrock, Hannah E; Wagner, Brett A; Buettner, Garry R; Smith, Brian J; Teoh, Melissa L T; Tsao, Ming-Sound; Cullen, Joseph J

Published In Mol Carcinog, (2013 Jul)

Abstract: K-ras mutations have been identified in up to 95% of pancreatic cancers, implying their critical role in the molecular pathogenesis. Expression of K-ras oncogene in an immortalized human pancreatic ductal epithelial cell line, originally derived from normal pancreas (H6c7), induced the formation of carcinoma in mice. We hypothesized that K-ras oncogene correlates with increased non-mitochondrial-generated superoxide (O 2.-), which could be involved in regulating cell growth contributing to tumor progression. In the H6c7 cell line and its derivatives, H6c7er-Kras+ (H6c7 cells expressing K-ras oncogene), and H6c7eR-KrasT (tumorigenic H6c7 cells expressing K-ras oncogene), there was an increase in hydroethidine fluorescence in cell lines that express K-ras. Western blots and activity assays for the antioxidant enzymes that detoxify O 2.- were similar in these cell lines suggesting that the increase in hydroethidine fluorescence was not due to decreased antioxidant capacity. To determine a possible non-mitochondrial source of the increased levels of O 2.-, Western analysis demonstrated the absence of NADPH oxidase-2 (NOX2) in H6c7 cells but present in the H6c7 cell lines expressing K-ras and other pancreatic cancer cell lines. Inhibition of NOX2 decreased hydroethidine fluorescence and clonogenic survival. Furthermore, in the cell lines with the K-ras oncogene, overexpression of superoxide dismutases that detoxify non-mitochondrial sources of O 2.-, and treatment with the small molecule O 2.- scavenger Tempol, also decreased hydroethidine fluorescence, inhibited clonogenic survival and inhibited growth of tumor xenografts. Thus, O 2.- produced by NOX2 in pancreatic cancer cells with K-ras, may regulate pancreatic cancer cell growth.

PubMed ID: 22392697 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication

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