The study on the correlation of activation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway and K-ras gene mutations in pancreatic cancer cell lines

Objective To investigate the correlation of K-ras gene mutations and activation of Hedgehog signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer cell lines.Methods Real-time PCR was used to detect K-ras gene mutations at codon 12 and 13 in pancreatic cancer cell lines of SW1990,PaTu8988,CFPAC-1,PANC1,AsPC-1,Capanc-2,BxPC-3 and the mRNA expression of Glil,Smo in these cell lines.Results The K-ras mutation of PANC1,CFPAC-1,AsPC-1,PaTu8988 was at codon 12,while SW1990 was at codon 13,BxPC-3,Capanc-2 were wild type.The expressions of Glil mRNA of AsPC-1,CFPAC-1,PANC1,PaTu8988,SW1990,BxPC-3,Capanc-2 were 7.84 ± 8.92,1.82 ± 3.45,1.00± 0.00,0.07 ± 0.10,0.88 ± 1.48,0.52 ± 0.98,0.15 ± 0.19,and the expressions of Smo mRNA were 144.00 ± 58.33,3.48 ±3.77,1.00 ±0.00,81.68 ±28.26,0.72 ±0.87,0.34 ±0.60,0.02 ±0.03.Glil,Smo mRNA expressions of cells with wild tpye K-ras were significantly lower than those with mutant type,and wild type BxPC-3's Glil,Smo mRNA expressions were significantly lower than that of mutant AxPC-1 (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Activation of Hedgehog signaling pathway may be related to K-ras gene mutations. Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms ;  K-ras;  Point mutation;  Hedgehog signaling pathway; Transcription factor