Research Papers:
Acquired tumor cell resistance to sunitinib by increased invasion and epithelialmesenchymal transition in LL/2 murine lung cancer
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Yang Du1,*, Jia-Qi Liu1,*, Jie Tang1, Jun Ge1, Ye Chen1, Ke Cheng1, Jing Ding1, Zhi-Ke Li1 and Ji-Yan Liu1
1Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, GuoXue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
*These authors have contributed equally to this work
Correspondence to:
Ji-Yan Liu, email: [email protected]
Keywords: sunitinib, drug-resistance, lung cancer, increased invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Received: March 31, 2017 Accepted: June 05, 2017 Published: July 17, 2017
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aims to investigate biological behavior changes in a murine lung cancer cell characterized by acquired resistance to sunitinib, a potent inhibitor of multiple-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase.
Methods: A lung cancer cell line resistant to sunitinib (LL/2-R) was developed from its parental cell line (LL/2-P). Differences in biological characteristics and associated molecular profiles between these two cells were compared in vitro and in vivo.
Results: LL/2-R cells showed an approximately 5-fold higher IC50 of sunitinib than LL/2-P cells and exhibited a reduced growth inhibition following sunitinib treatment compared with LL/2-P. In LL/2-R cells and tumors, increased migration, invasion and metastasis were observed, along with upregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9. We also analyzed the molecular profiles involved in EMT, and found that E-cadherin was downregulated in LL/2-R tumors, and vimentin was upregulated in LL/2-R cells and tumors, along with β-catenin translocating to the nuclei in LL/2-R cells. Furthermore, transcriptional factors mediated EMT, snail and twist, and the secretion of TGFβ1 also increased in LL/2-R cells and tumors.
Conclusions: We established a sunitinib-resistant lung cancer cell line and confirmed its drug-resistance to sunitinib in vivo. Our results implied that increased invasion and EMT may associate with the acquisition of resistant phenotype to sunitinib in cancer cells.