5290

PIK3CA

phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha;PIK3CA;phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha

PI3-kinase p110 subunit alpha|PI3K-alpha|phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, catalytic, 110-KD, alpha|phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, catalytic, alpha polypeptide|phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha isoform|phosphatidylinosito

3q26.3

protein-coding

mutations in both RAS and the PTEN/PIK3CA/AKT signaling module are found in the same human tumors. PIK3CA and AKT are downstream effectors of RAS, and the selective advantage conferred by mutation of two genes in the same pathway is unclear. Based on a comparative molecular analysis, we show that activated PIK3CA/AKT is a weaker inducer of senescence than is activated RAS. Moreover, concurrent activation of RAS and PIK3CA/AKT impairs RAS-induced senescence. In vivo, bypass of RAS-induced senescence by activated PIK3CA/AKT correlates with accelerated tumorigenesis. Thus, not ALL oncogenes are equally potent inducers of senescence, and, paradoxically, a weak inducer of senescence (PIK3CA/AKT) can be dominant over a strong inducer of senescence (RAS). For tumor growth, one selective advantage of concurrent mutation of RAS and PTEN/PIK3CA/AKT is suppression of RAS-induced senescence. Evidence is presented that this new understanding can be exploited in rational development and targeted application of prosenescence cancer therapies.

cellular senescence is a tumor suppression mechanism. We previously reported that CKII downregulation induces senescence in human lung fibroblast IMR-90 and colon cancer HCT116 cells. In this study, potential longevity drugs, including rapamycin, vitamin C, and vitamin E, blocked CKII downregulation-mediated senescence through reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in HCT116 cells. Since rapamycin is a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, we examined the roles of mTOR and its upstream regulators phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and AKT in CKII inhibition-mediated senescence. CKIIalpha knock-down or CKII inhibitor treatment strikingly increased phosphorylation of mTOR, p70S6K, an mTOR substrate, and AKT, whereas CKIIalpha overexpression reduced this phosphorylation event. This result indicated that CKII inhibition activated the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. Further, pharmacological inhibition of PI3K and AKT attenuated ROS production and senescence in CKII-downregulated cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate, for the first time, that the PI3K-AKT-mTOR-ROS pathway is necessary for CKII inhibition-mediated cellular senescence.