[Relationship between PTEN mutations and protein kinase B phosphorylation caused by insulin or recombinant human...

Objective To study the effect of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) mutations on protein kinase B (Akt) phosphorylation of CNE-1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line. Methods CNE-1 cells were cultured in RPMI1640 medium containing 100 mL/L fetal calf serum, and then transfected with wild-type PTEN (wtPTEN), mutant PTEN C124S and mutant PTEN G129E plasmid separately. After overnight serum starvation, the cells were stimulated with 0.15 IU/mL insulin or 0.3 μg/mL recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF). At last, Akt phosphorylation was evaluated by Western blotting. Results Insulin or rhEGF stimulation led to Akt activation in CNE-1 cells. The wtPTEN inhibited insulin- or rhEGF-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt. PTEN C124S mutant activated insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt, but not rhEGF-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt. PTEN G129E mutant inhibited insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt. Conclusion The wtPTEN inhibited insulin- or rhEGF-stimulated phosphorylation of Akt, while PTEN C124S and G129E mutants failed to activate the phosphorylation of Akt consistently. This suggested PTEN mutations might not be correlated with activated Akt.