Role of PI3K/Akt/COX-2 pathway in the radiation resistance of human cervical cancer HeLa cells

Objective: To explore the role of PI3K/Akt/COX-2 pathway in the radiation resistance of human cervical cancer HeLa cells. Methods: The HeLa cells were cultured in vitro. Using Celecoxib in Hela cells or associated with LY294002 for 24 h, the cells were radiated by different doses of X-ray. The cell survival ratio was detected by clone formation. To calculate Dq , D0, SF2, SER, the cell survival curve was draw by one-hit multitarget model. The expression of pAkt, Akt, COX-2, Bad and pBad were detected by Western blot. The mRNA expression of COX-2 and Bad was detected by RT-PCR. Results: The Dq, D0, SF2 of Celecoxib or associated with LY294002 group was lower than those in radiation group. The pathway PI3K/Akt/COX-2 was activated by irradiation. Celecoxib inhibited the activation of PI3K/Akt/COX-2 for multitarget. Conclusions: The activation of PI3K/Akt/COX-2 signal transduction resulted in resistance of radiosensitization in HeLa cell. It was indicated that inhibiting PI3K/Akt/COX-2 pathway could improve the radiosensitivity of human cervical cancer HeLa cells. (authors)