title: Expression of urotensin II and its receptor in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and the effect of urotensin II on lung adenocarcinoma growth in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: Urotensin II (UII), originally identified from fish urophysis, is a potent vasoactive peptide and an endogenous ligand for an orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR14, now named as urotensin II receptor (UT-R). In this study, we investigated the mRNA and protein expressions of UII and its receptor (UT-R) in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, and the effect of exogenous UII on the proliferation of A549 cells in vitro and in vivo. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis showed that both mRNAs and proteins of UII and UT-R were obviously expressed in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that UII peptide was mainly expressed in the cyto-plasm, and UT-R protein was expressed on the cytomembrane and also in the cytoplasm. 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) analysis demonstrated that treatment with different concentrations of human UII (10(-9), 10(-8), 10(-7) and 10(-6) M) for 48 h significantly increased the number of A549 cells. The effect of UII at the concentration of 10(-7) M on the proliferation of A549 cells is most pronounced. Nude mice bearing human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells treated with UII showed a significant increase in tumor volume and tumor weight compared with control group. These findings suggest that UII may contribute to the pathogenesis of human lung adenocarcinoma as an autocrine/paracrine growth stimulating factor.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biological Cancer Therapy, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221002, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors.forename: Yu-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Cheng-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shu-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Dong-Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.forename: Jun-Nian
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D014579:Urotensins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C121697:UTS2R protein, human; D014579:Urotensins; C029677:urotensin II