INVESTIGATION OF RAPAMYCIN-INDUCED GENE EXPRESSION ALTERATIONS IN HCT-116-LUC2 XENOGRAFTS
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Date
2013-11
Department
Hood College Biology
Program
Biomedical and Environmental Science
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Abstract
The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 50,830 deaths due to
colorectal cancer in the United States in 2013. A need exists to better understand
potential anticancer agents, especially because risk factors have been rising over recent
years. Human tumor xenogratis, bioluminescent imaging, RNA microarrays, and
Western blots were utilized in the present study to analyze how rapamycin affects HCT-
116-luc2 cells implanted subcutaneously in mice. Only a small number of genes had
altered expression between the treated and control groups; however, 80% of the mice
treated with rapamycin, in contrast to 20% of the control animals, showed signs of
metastases by day 107 post-tumor implantation. The generally accepted target of
rapamycin, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), is not dephosphorylated in this
model although downstream effectors p70S6K and S6 are. Although the exact
mechanism of how rapamycin affects cells remains to be discovered, rapamycin
administration seems to slow cell growth.