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Published in: Medical Oncology 3/2010

01-09-2010 | Original Paper

Inhibition of Notch3 enhances sensitivity to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer through an inactivation of PI3K/Akt-dependent pathway

Authors: Jun Yao, Cuijuan Qian

Published in: Medical Oncology | Issue 3/2010

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Abstract

Notch3 is one of the four Notch receptors identified in mammal, but its role in human pancreatic cancer remains poorly characterized. In this study, we sought to determine the effect of suppressing Notch3 expression on the chemosensitivity to gemcitabine in human pancreatic cancer cell lines BxPC-3 and PANC-1. RNA interference was used to suppress Notch3 expression. Gemcitabine-induced cytotoxicity was determined by MTT. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. Caspase 3 activity was assayed using a Caspase Fluorescent Assay Kit. The effect of Notch3-specific siRNA on PI3K/Akt activity was also quantified. Notch3-specific siRNA suppressed Notch3 expression, and furthermore increased gemcitabine-induced, caspase-mediated apoptosis. The suppression of Notch3 expression decreased the average IC50 in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells treated with gemcitabine. PI3K/Akt activity was decreased by the suppression of Notch3 expression. Taken together, these data demonstrated that Notch3 is a potential therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, and PI3K/Akt is a key signaling component by which activation of the Notch3 signal transduction pathway protects pancreatic cancer cells from chemotherapy-induced cell death.
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Metadata
Title
Inhibition of Notch3 enhances sensitivity to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer through an inactivation of PI3K/Akt-dependent pathway
Authors
Jun Yao
Cuijuan Qian
Publication date
01-09-2010
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Medical Oncology / Issue 3/2010
Print ISSN: 1357-0560
Electronic ISSN: 1559-131X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-009-9326-5

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