Mohamad Ezzeldin, Emma Borrego-Diaz, Mohammad Taha, Tuba Esfandyari, Amanda L Wise, Warner Peng, Alex Rouyanian, Atabak Asvadi Kermani, Mina Soleimani, Elham Patrad, Kristina Lialyte, Kun Wang, Stephen Williamson, Bashar Abdulkarim, Mojtaba Olyaee, Faris Farassati
Ral (Ras like) leads an important proto-oncogenic signaling pathway down-stream of Ras. In this work, RalA was found to be significantly overactivated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and tissues as compared to non-malignant samples. Other elements of RalA pathway such as RalBP1 and RalGDS were also expressed at higher levels in malignant samples. Inhibition of RalA by gene-specific silencing caused a robust decrease in the viability and invasiveness of HCC cells. Additionally, the use of geranyl-geranyl transferase inhibitor (GGTI, an inhibitor of Ral activation) and Aurora kinase inhibitor II resulted in a significant decrease in the proliferation of HCC cells...
July 2014: Molecular Oncology