Invasion inhibition by a MEK inhibitor correlates with the actin-based cytoskeleton in lung cancer A549 cells.

Junmei Niu, Qingjiang Mo, Helin Wang, Mingying Li, Junwei Cui, Zhenyun Li, Zhenkui Li

Department of First Internal Medicine, Tuberculosis Division, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, China.

Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2012 May 25

filter terms:

Metastasis remains the primary cause of lung cancer. The molecules involved in metastasis may be candidates for new targets in the therapy of lung cancer. The MEK/ERK signaling pathway has been highlighted in a number of studies on invasiveness and metastasis. In this paper, we show that the MEK inhibitor U0126 induces flattened morphology, remodels the actin-based cytoskeleton, and potently inhibits chemotaxis and Matrigel invasion in the human lung cancer A549 cell line. Furthermore, downregulation of ERK by small interfering RNA significantly inhibits the invasion of A549 cells and induces stress fiber formation. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence that the inhibition of invasion of lung cancer A549 cells by inhibiting MEK/ERK signaling activity is associated with remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton, suggesting a novel link between MEK/ERK signaling-mediated cell invasion and the actin-based cytoskeleton. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Junmei Niu, Qingjiang Mo, Helin Wang, Mingying Li, Junwei Cui, Zhenyun Li, Zhenkui Li. Invasion inhibition by a MEK inhibitor correlates with the actin-based cytoskeleton in lung cancer A549 cells. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. 2012 May 25;422(1):80-4