Receptor tyrosine kinase and phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling in malignant mesothelioma

The phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling pathway is implicated in the development of malignancy and promotes cell-cycle progression and resistance to apoptosis. Malignant mesothelioma tumor specimens demonstrate high levels of the phosphoinositide-3 kinase downstream mediator phosphorylated Akt. Exposure of mesothelioma cell lines to LY294002, a phosphoinositide-3 kinase inhibitor, results in apoptotic cell death and decreased phosphorylated Akt in vitro and tumor burden reduction in vivo. Phosphoinositide-3 kinase is activated by cell-surface receptor tyrosine kinases. We sought to determine which receptors are present in mesothelioma and their role in cellular survival and phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the relative expression of epidermal growth factor receptor, insulin-like growth factor receptor, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor in the mesothelioma cell lines I-45 and REN and the mesothelial line Met5a. After exposure of mesothelioma lines to kinase inhibitors, a cell viability assay was performed, cell-cycle analysis was performed to determine the percentage of apoptosis, and Western blot analysis was performed for phosphorylated Akt. Inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor resulted in apoptotic cell death and Akt hypophosphorylation in mesothelioma cell lines. Insulin-like growth factor receptor inhibition led to apoptotic cell death without affecting Akt phosphorylation. Platelet-derived growth factor receptor inhibition did not affect cellular survival or phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling. In malignant mesothelioma constitutive activation of phosphoinositide-3 kinase/Akt results in cellular survival and contributes to the malignant phenotype. We have demonstrated that epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition leads to apoptotic cell death through downregulation of phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling in mesothelioma cell lines, whereas insulin-like growth factor receptor inhibition leads to apoptosis independent of phosphoinositide-3 kinase. Epidermal growth factor receptor, insulin-like growth factor receptor, and phosphoinositide-3 kinase inhibition might be clinically relevant in malignant mesothelioma.