Evidence for mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor by X-ray irradiation in a lung squamous carcinoma cell line

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a multipotent cytokine which plays an important role in various angiogenic conditions as well as in some tumor behaviors. Here we examined the induction of VEGF mRNA by X-ray irradiation in a lung squamous cell carcinoma cell line (RERF-LC-AI). Irradiating the cells with 15 Gy X-rays significantly increased the mRNA expression up to 2.5-fold of control at a post-irradiation time of 16-24 h. The induction of VEGF mRNA by X-ray irradiation was completely blocked by treating cells with either genistein (Src tyrosine kinase inhibitor) or H7 (protein kinase C inhibitor). This suggests that the mechanism of induction might be concerned with the pathway which triggers Src tyrosine kinase of the cell surface and the protein kinase C pathway.