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. 2006 Oct 15;66(20):10057-63.
doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-1814.

Selenium regulates cyclooxygenase-2 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathways by activating AMP-activated protein kinase in colon cancer cells

Jin-Taek Hwang  1 , Young Min Kim, Young-Joon Surh, Haing Woon Baik, Seong-Kyu Lee, Joohun Ha, Ock Jin Park
Affiliations

Selenium regulates cyclooxygenase-2 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathways by activating AMP-activated protein kinase in colon cancer cells

Jin-Taek Hwang et al. Cancer Res. .

Abstract

Epidemiologic and experimental evidences indicate that selenium, an essential trace element, can reduce the risk of a variety of cancers. Protection against certain types of cancers, particularly colorectal cancers, is closely associated with pathways involving cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We found that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which functions as a cellular energy sensor, mediates critical anticancer effects of selenium via a COX-2/prostaglandin E(2) signaling pathway. Selenium activated AMPK in tumor xenografts as well as in colon cancer cell lines, and this activation seemed to be essential to the decrease in COX-2 expressions. Transduction with dominant-negative AMPK into colon cancer cells or application of cox-2(-/-)-negative cells supported the evidence that AMPK is an upstream signal of COX-2 and inhibits cell proliferation. In HT-29 colon cancer cells, carcinogenic agent 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) that led to COX-2 expression and selenium blocked the TPA-induced ERK and COX-2 activation via AMPK. We also showed the role of a reactive oxygen species as an AMPK activation signal in selenium-treated cells. We propose that AMPK is a novel and critical regulatory component in selenium-induced cancer cell death, further implying AMPK as a prime target of tumorigenesis.

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