Effect of PDK1 on biological characteristics of lung cancer A549 cells

AIM: To investigate the effects of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein-1 (PDK1) on the biological characteristics of non-small-cell lung cancer cell line A549 and the underlying mechanisms.METHODS: The expression levels of PDK1 in lung normal epithelial cell line BEAS-2B and different lung cancer cell lines H460, SPCA1 and A549 were determined by Western blot and real-time PCR. Small interfering RNA was used to down-regulated PDK1 expression in the A549 cells, and then cell viability and apoptosis were measured by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression of cell cycle-and apoptosis-related molecules at protein level and the activation of Akt/FoxO1 pathway were measured by Western blot. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1, one of the most potent Akt activators) was used to evaluate the interaction between PDK1 and Akt/FoxO1 pathway.RESULTS: Compared with lung normal epithelial cell line BEAS-2B, PDK1 expression in the lung cancer cell lines was obviously increased (P<0.05). Knockdown of PDK1 suppressed cell viability and cell cycle, but promoted the apoptosis of the A549 cells. The results of Western blot showed that the protein levels of cyclin D1, CDK4, p-Rb, Bcl-2, p-Akt and cytoplasmic p-FoxO1 were significantly decreased after knockdown of PDK1, with increases in the protein levels of P27, cleaved caspase-3 and nuclear FoxO1. Pre-incubation with IGF-1 partly reversed the effect of PDK1 knockdown on Akt/FoxO1 pathway and increased the viability of A549 cells.CONCLUSION: In human non-small-cell lung cancer A549 cells, knockdown of PDK1 suppresses cell viability and promotes cell apoptosis by regulating the expression of cell cycle-and apoptosis-related molecules via Akt/FoxO1 pathway, suggesting that PDK1 may be a potential target for diagnosis and theatment of lung cancer.