Role of insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling pathway in cisplatin-resistant lung cancer cells.

PURPOSE: The development of drug-resistant phenotypes has been a major obstacle to cisplatin use in non-small-cell lung cancer. We aimed to identify some of the molecular mechanisms that underlie cisplatin resistance using microarray expression analysis.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: H460 cells were treated with cisplatin. The differences between cisplatin-resistant lung cancer cells and parental H460 cells were studied using Western blot, MTS, and clonogenic assays, in vivo tumor implantation, and microarray analysis. The cisplatin-R cells were treated with human recombinant insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein-3 and siRNA targeting IGF-1 receptor.

RESULTS: Cisplatin-R cells illustrated greater expression of the markers CD133 and aldehyde dehydrogenase, more rapid in vivo tumor growth, more resistance to cisplatin- and etoposide-induced apoptosis, and greater survival after treatment with cisplatin or radiation than the parental H460 cells. Also, cisplatin-R demonstrated decreased expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 and increased activation of IGF-1 receptor signaling compared with parental H460 cells in the presence of IGF-1. Human recombinant IGF binding protein-3 reversed cisplatin resistance in cisplatin-R cells and targeting of IGF-1 receptor using siRNA resulted in sensitization of cisplatin-R-cells to cisplatin and radiation.

CONCLUSIONS: The IGF-1 signaling pathway contributes to cisplatin-R to cisplatin and radiation. Thus, this pathway represents a potential target for improved lung cancer response to treatment.