title: Transforming growth factor-alpha inhibits the intrinsic pathway of c-Myc-induced apoptosis through activation of nuclear factor-kappaB in murine hepatocellular carcinomas.
abstract: Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) plays an important role during liver neoplastic development through transcriptional regulation of prosurvival genes, which then counteract the death-inducing signals elicited by the host immune response. The c-Myc proto-oncogene is frequently deregulated in liver tumors. Furthermore, enforced expression of c-Myc in the liver promotes the development of hepatocellular carcinomas, a process that is accelerated by coexpression with transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha). TGF-alpha/c-Myc-derived hepatocellular carcinomas display reduced apoptotic levels compared with those of single c-Myc transgenic hepatocellular carcinomas, suggesting that TGF-alpha provides a survival advantage to c-Myc-transformed hepatocytes. Given that TGF-alpha/c-Myc hepatocellular carcinomas display constitutive NF-kappaB activity, here, we have tested the hypothesis that enforced expression of TGF-alpha results in constitutive NF-kappaB activation and enhanced cell survival using TGF-alpha/c-Myc-derived hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. We show that TGF-alpha induces NF-kappaB through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt axis in these bitransgenic hepatocellular carcinomas. Furthermore, we found that adenovirus-mediated inhibition of NF-kappaB activity impairs the ability of TGF-alpha/c-Myc-derived tumor cells to grow in an anchorage-independent fashion due to sensitization to c-Myc-induced apoptosis. Lastly, we show that NF-kappaB inhibits c-Myc-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 through up-regulation of the antiapoptotic target genes Bcl-X(L) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP). Overall, these results underscore a crucial role of NF-kappaB in disabling apoptotic pathways initiated by oncogenic transformation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Center for Anticancer Drug Research, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, 874 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Lakita G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Cavin
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Valentina M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Factor
authors.forename: Swayamjot
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Manickam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Venkatraman
authors.forename: Snorri S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Thorgeirsson
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arsura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000502:physiology*; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000502:physiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C505409:Casp3 protein, mouse; C506434:Casp9 protein, mouse; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases