Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog signalling pathway in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva as a potential target for cancer therapy.

ABSTRACT: In a previous study, we showed that the Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway is aberrantly activated in vulval squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC). In this study, we further validated our findings on a prospective cohort of primary VSCC cases, where immunohistochemical staining confirmed that key Hh pathway components were overexpressed in VSCC compared to normal vulval epithelium. We also undertook a series of in vitro studies to determine the extent of Hh pathway activation in VSCC-derived cell lines, and examine the consequences of pathway inhibition on the growth of these cells. We found that of six cell lines tested, four displayed elevated baseline Hh pathway activity that was dependent on SHH ligand, or in one case, a PTCH1 gene mutation. Hh signalling appeared necessary to sustain cell grow

SUBMITTER: Yap JKW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8417215 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature