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EphB4 provides survival advantage to squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
Author(s) -
Masood Rizwan,
Kumar S. Ram,
Sinha Uttam K.,
Crowe David L.,
Krasnoperov Valery,
Reddy Ramachandra K.,
Zozulya Sergey,
Singh Jasbir,
Xia Guangbin,
Broek Daniel,
Schönthal Axel H.,
Gill Parkash S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.21926
Subject(s) - head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , cancer research , apoptosis , biology , tumor progression , cell culture , in vivo , cell , cell growth , cancer , head and neck cancer , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics
Abstract The receptor tyrosine kinase EphB4 and its ligand EphrinB2 play critical roles in blood vessel maturation, and are frequently overexpressed in a wide variety of cancers. We studied the aberrant expression and biological role of EphB4 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We tested the effect of EphB4‐specific siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides (AS‐ODN) on cell growth, migration and invasion, and the effect of EphB4 AS‐ODN on tumor growth in vivo . All HNSCC tumor samples express EphB4 and levels of expression correlate directly with higher stage and lymph node metastasis. Six of 7 (86%) HNSCC cell lines express EphB4, which is induced either by EGFR activation or by EPHB4 gene amplification. EphrinB2 was expressed in 65% tumors and 5 of 7 (71%) cell lines. EphB4 provides survival advantage to tumor cells in that EphB4 siRNA and AS‐ODN significantly inhibit tumor cell viability, induce apoptosis, activate caspase‐8, and sensitize cells to TRAIL‐induced cell death. Furthermore, EphB4‐specific AS‐ODN significantly inhibits the growth of HNSCC tumor xenografts in vivo . Expression of EphB4 in HNSCC tumor cells confers survival and invasive properties, and thereby provides a strong rationale for targeting EphB4 as novel therapy for HNSCC. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.