title: Sonic hedgehog pathway contributes to gastric cancer cell growth and proliferation.
abstract: The Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway is commonly activated in gastrointestinal cancer. However, our understanding of the Shh pathway in gastric cancer remains limited. Here we examined the effects of cyclopamine, a specific inhibitor of the Shh signaling pathway, on cell growth and proliferation in gastric primary cancer cells GAM-016 and the MKN-45 cell line. The results showed that the Shh signaling molecules SHH, PTCH, SMO, GLI1, and GLI2 were intact and activated in both types of cells. Furthermore, we observed that cyclopamine inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation through cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. An in vivo study using NOD/SCID mouse xenografts demonstrated that cyclopamine significantly prevented tumor growth and development. Our study indicated that Shh signaling pathway could promote gastric cancer cell proliferation and tumor development, and blocking this pathway may be a potential strategy in gastric cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University , PLA, Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Hailong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Zhuanqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University , Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Yongzhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Hongjuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cui
keywords: Sonic Hedgehog; apoptosis; cell cycle arrest; cell proliferation; cyclopamine; primary gastric cancer