Silencing of Keratinocyte Growth Factor Receptor Restores 5-Fluorouracil and Tamoxifen Efficacy on Responsive Cancer Cells.Sabrina Rotolo 1, Simona Ceccarelli 1, Ferdinando Romano 1, Luigi Frati 1,2, Cinzia Marchese 1, Antonio Angeloni 1* 1 Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Universita` Sapienza di Roma, Roma, Italy, 2 Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo ‘‘Neuromed, Pozzilli, ItalyAbstract : BackgroundKeratinocyte growth factor receptor (KGFR) is a splice variant of the FGFR2 gene expressed in epithelial cells. Activation of KGFR is a key factor in the regulation of physiological processes in epithelial cells such as proliferation, differentiation and wound healing. Alterations of KGFR signaling have been linked to the pathogenesis of different epithelial tumors. It has been also hypothesized that its specific ligand, KGF, might contribute to the development of resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in epithelial cancers and tamoxifen in estrogen-positive breast cancers.Abstract : Methodology/Principal FindingsSmall interfering RNA was transfected into a human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT), a breast cancer derived cell line (MCF-7) and a keratinocyte primary culture (KCs) to induce selective downregulation of KGFR expression. A strong and highly specific reduction of KGFR expression was observed at both RNA (reduction = 75.7%, P = 0.009) and protein level. KGFR silenced cells showed a reduced responsiveness to KGF treatment as assessed by measuring proliferation rate (14.2% versus 39.0% of the control cells, P
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03 Jul 2008
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