Original Article
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2010; 16(32): 4047-4054
Published online Aug 28, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i32.4047
High expression of ErbB2 contributes to cholangiocarcinoma cell invasion and proliferation through AKT/p70S6K
Warapen Treekitkarnmongkol, Tuangporn Suthiphongchai
Warapen Treekitkarnmongkol, Tuangporn Suthiphongchai, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Author contributions: Treekitkarnmongkol W was responsible for designing and performing the experiments, analyzing the data and initial preparation of the manuscript; Suthiphongchai T designed the study, analyzed the data, edited the manuscript and provided financial support for this work.
Supported by A grant from Mahidol University, Thailand (to Suthiphongchai T); and a scholarship from the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program, the Thailand Research Fund (to Treekitkarnmongkol W)
Correspondence to: Tuangporn Suthiphongchai, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. sctsc@mahidol.ac.th
Telephone: +66-2-2015609 Fax: +66-2-3547174
Received: March 7, 2010
Revised: April 21, 2010
Accepted: April 28, 2010
Published online: August 28, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To compare the impact of ErbB2 on cell invasion and proliferation in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines.

METHODS: Level of endogenous ErbB2 expression in three CCA cell lines, namely HuCCA-1, KKU-100 and KKU-M213, was determined by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Two ErbB2 inhibitory methods, a small molecule ErbB2 kinase inhibitor (AG825) and siRNA, were used to disrupt ErbB2 function in the cell lines. CCA cell invasion, motility and proliferation under ErbB2-disrupted conditions were detected using Transwell and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays. In addition, ErbB2 downstream effectors were investigated by Western blotting analysis.

RESULTS: Suppression of ErbB2 activity, using a specific kinase inhibitor (AG825), reduced invasion, motility and proliferation of all three CCA cell lines. The ability of this drug to inhibit neoplastic properties (invasion, motility and proliferation) increased concomitantly with the level of ErbB2 expression. Similarly, knockdown of ErbB2 level by siRNA inhibited cell invasion and proliferation of KKU-M213, a high-ErbB2-expressing cell, better than those of the lower-ErbB2-expressing cells, HuCCA-1 and KKU-100. Thus, both inhibitory methods indicated that there is more ErbB2-dependency for malignancy of the high-ErbB2-expressing cell, KKU-M213, than for that of low-ErbB2-expressing ones. In addition, interrupting ErbB2 activity decreased phosphorylation of AKT and p70S6K, but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, in the high-ErbB2-expressing CCA cell line.

CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that high ErbB2 expression enhances CCA invasion, motility and proliferation via the AKT/p70S6K pathway, which suggests the possibility of targeting these molecules for CCA therapy.

Keywords: AKT; Cholangiocarcinoma; ErbB2; Invasion; p70S6K; Cell proliferation