We evaluated the contribution of three genetic alterations (p53 knockdown, K-RAS^V12, and mutant EGFR) to lung tumorigenesis using human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) immortalized with telomerase and Cdk4-mediated p16 bypass. RNA interference p53 knockdown or oncogenic K-RAS^V12 resulted in enhanced anchorage-independent growth and increased saturation density of HBECs. The combination of p53 knockdown and K-RAS^V12 further enhanced the tumorigenic phenotype with increased growth in soft agar and an invasive phenotype in three-dimensional organotypic cultures but failed to cause HBECs to form tumors in nude mice. Growth of HBECs was highly dependent on epidermal growth factor (EGF) and completely inhibited by EGF receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which induced G₁ arrest. Introduction of EGFR mutations E746-A750 del and L858R progressed HBECs toward malignancy as measured by soft agar growth, including EGF-independent growth, but failed to induce tumor formation. Mutant EGFRs were associated with higher levels of phospho-Akt, phospho–signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 [but not phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2], and increased expression of DUSP6/MKP-3 phosphatase (an inhibitor of phospho-ERK1/2). These results indicate that (a) the HBEC model system is a powerful new approach to assess the contribution of individual and combinations of genetic alterations to lung cancer pathogenesis; (b) a combination of four genetic alterations, including human telomerase reverse transcriptase overexpression, bypass of p16/RB and p53 pathways, and mutant K-RAS^V12 or mutant EGFR, is still not sufficient for HBECs to completely transform to cancer; and (c) EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors inhibit the growth of preneoplastic HBEC cells, suggesting their potential for chemoprevention. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(4): 2116-28)

Oncogenic KRAS is found in more than 25% of lung adenocarcinomas, the major histologic subtype of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and is an important target for drug development. To this end, we generated four NSCLC lines with stable knockdown selective for oncogenic KRAS. As expected, stable knockdown of oncogenic KRAS led to inhibition of in vitro and in vivo tumor growth in the KRAS-mutant NSCLC cells, but not in NSCLC cells that have wild-type KRAS (but mutant NRAS). Surprisingly, we did not see large-scale induction of cell death and the growth inhibitory effect was not complete. To further understand the ability of NSCLCs to grow despite selective removal of mutant KRAS expression, we conducted microarray expression profiling of NSCLC cell lines with or without mutant KRAS knockdown and isogenic human bronchial epithelial cell lines with and without oncogenic KRAS. We found that although the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway is significantly downregulated after mutant KRAS knockdown, these NSCLCs showed increased levels of phospho-STAT3 and phospho–epidermal growth factor receptor, and variable changes in phospho-Akt. In addition, mutant KRAS knockdown sensitized the NSCLCs to p38 and EGFR inhibitors. Our findings suggest that targeting oncogenic KRAS by itself will not be sufficient treatment, but may offer possibilities of combining anti-KRAS strategies with other targeted drugs. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(2); 336–46. ©2011 AACR.

The expression of L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) has been described to play essential roles in tumor cell growth and survival. However, it remains unclear about the clinicopathological significance of LAT1 expression in biliary tract cancer. This study was conducted to determine biological significance of LAT1 expression and investigate whether LAT1 could be a prognostic biomarker for biliary tract cancer.