Cellular effects of imatinib on medullary thyroid cancer cells harboring multiple endocrine neoplasia Type 2A and 2B associated RET mutations.
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de Groot JW, Plaza Menacho I, Schepers H, Drenth-Diephuis LJ, Osinga J, Plukker JT, Links TP, Eggen BJ, Hofstra RM
Cellular effects of imatinib on medullary thyroid cancer cells harboring multiple endocrine neoplasia Type 2A and 2B associated RET mutations.
Surgery. 2006 Jun;139(6):806-14.
- PubMed ID
- 16782438 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
BACKGROUND: Activating mutations in the RET gene, which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor, often cause medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Surgical resection is the only curative treatment; no effective systemic treatment is available. We evaluated imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor currently used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, as a potential drug for systemic treatment of MTC, in 2 MTC-derived cell lines expressing multiple endocrine neoplasia-associated mutant RET receptors. METHODS: We determined RET expression and Y1062 phosphorylation using Western blot analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We determined the effects on cell proliferation by a 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, and we used fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis with annexin V/propidium iodide staining to study imatinib-induced cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, and cell death. RESULTS: Imatinib inhibited RET Y1062 phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner after 1.5 hours of exposure. After 16 hours both RET Y1062 phosphorylation and protein expression levels were affected. Dose-dependent decreases in cell proliferation of both cell lines after exposure to imatinib with inhibitory concentration of 50% levels of 23 +/- 2 micromol/L and 25 +/- 4 micromol/L were seen. These values are high, compared with those for chronic myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. We further could show that imatinib induced cell-cycle arrest, and apoptotic and nonapoptotic cell death. CONCLUSIONS: Imatinib inhibits RET-mediated MTC cell growth affecting RET protein levels in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. The concentration of imatinib necessary to inhibit RET in vitro, however, makes it impossible to conclude that imatinib monotherapy will be a good option for systemic therapy of MTC.
DrugBank Data that Cites this Article
- Drug Targets
Drug Target Kind Organism Pharmacological Action Actions Imatinib High affinity nerve growth factor receptor Protein Humans UnknownAntagonistDetails Imatinib Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase receptor Ret Protein Humans YesInhibitorDetails