HER2/PI-3K/Akt activation leads to a multidrug resistance in human breast adenocarcinoma cells.
Growth factor receptor-mediated signal transduction has been implicated in conferring resistance to conventional chemotherapy on cancer cells. In this study, we delineated a pathway that involves HER2/PI-3K/Akt in mediating multidrug resistance in human breast cancer cells. We found that the cell lines that express both HER2 and HER3 appear to have a higher phosphorylation level of Akt (activated Akt). Transfection of HER2 in MCF7 breast cancer cells that express HER3 caused a phosphoinoside-3 kinase (PI-3K)-dependent activation of Akt, and was associated with an increased resistance of the cells to multiple chemotherapeutic agents (paclitaxel, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, etoposide, and camptothecin). Selective inhibition of PI-3K or Akt activity with their respective dominant-negative expression vectors sensitized the cells to the induction of apoptosis by the chemotherapeutic agents. We further demonstrated that MCF7 cells expressing a constitutively active Akt, in which the phospholipid-interactive PH domain of Akt was replaced by a farnesylation sequence for constitutive membrane anchorage (DeltaPH-Akt1-farn), showed a similar increased resistance to the chemotherapeutic agents. Our results suggest that activation of Akt1 by HER2/PI-3K plays an important role in conferring a broad-spectrum chemoresistance on breast cancer cells and that Akt may therefore be a novel molecular target for therapies that would improve the outcome of patients with breast cancer.
Knuefermann
Christiane
C
Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030 USA.
Lu
Yang
Y
Liu
Bolin
B
Jin
Weidong
W
Liang
Ke
K
Wu
Ling
L
Schmidt
Mathias
M
Mills
Gordon B
GB
Mendelsohn
John
J
Fan
Zhen
Z
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C494918:AKT1 protein, human