title: HER-2/neu blocks tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis via the Akt/NF-kappaB pathway.
abstract: Overexpression of HER-2/neu correlates with poor survival of breast and ovarian cancer patients and induces resistance to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which causes cancer cells to escape from host immune defenses. The mechanism of HER-2/neu-induced TNF resistance is unknown. Here we report that HER-2/neu activates Akt and NF-kappaB without extracellular stimulation. Blocking of the Akt pathway by a dominant-negative Akt sensitizes the HER-2/neu-overexpressing cells to TNF-induced apoptosis and inhibits IkappaB kinases, IkappaB phosphorylation, and NF-kappaB activation. Our results suggested that HER-2/neu constitutively activates the Akt/NF-kappaB anti-apoptotic cascade to confer resistance to TNF on cancer cells and reduce host defenses against neoplasia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Breast Cancer Basic Research Program, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hung
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D051550:I-kappa B Kinase; D051379:Mice; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D051550:I-kappa B Kinase; D016328:NF-kappa B; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; C496559:CHUK protein, human; C496564:Chuk protein, mouse; C496560:IKBKB protein, human; C496565:IKBKE protein, human; C496562:Ikbkb protein, mouse; C496566:Ikbke protein, mouse