%0 Journal Article
%T Efficient Induction of Apoptosis by Wee1 Kinase Inhibition in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells
%A Tomomi Kogiso
%A Hikaru Nagahara
%A Etsuko Hashimoto
%A Shunichi Ariizumi
%A Masakazu Yamamoto
%A Keiko Shiratori
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2014
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0100495
%X Transforming growth factor-¦Â1 (TGF-¦Â1) potently inhibits human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell growth. Here we demonstrated that TGF-¦Â1-induced apoptosis is mediated by decreased phosphorylation of cdc2 at Tyr15 accompanied by down-regulation of Wee1 kinase expression. As expected from these results, a Wee1 kinase inhibitor efficiently induced apoptosis in HCC cells in the absence of TGF-¦Â1 treatment. In surgically resected samples, Wee1 kinase was expressed in moderately to poorly differentiated HCC, whereas no Wee1 kinase expression was observed in non-cancerous tissue, including cirrhotic tissue. Our results suggest that Wee1 kinase inhibitors may be a practical novel therapeutic option against advanced HCC.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100495