Phospholipase C ε-1 inhibits p53 expression in lung cancer.

The pathogenesis of lung cancer is to be further investigated. Recent reports indicate that phospholipase C ε-1 (PLCE1) is a critical molecule involved in tumour growth. This study aims to investigate the role of PLCE1 in the regulation of apoptosis in lung cancer cells. In this study, the surgically removed non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue was collected from 36 patients. Single NSCLC cells were prepared from the tissue, in which immune cells of CD3(+) , CD11c(+) , CD19(+) , CD68(+) and CD14(+) were eliminated by magnetic cell sorting. The expression of PLCE1 and p53 was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Apoptosis of NSCLC cells was analysed by flow cytometry. The results showed that, in cultured NSCLC cells, high levels of PLCE1 and low levels p53 were detected; the two molecules showed a negative correlation (p < 0.01). The addition of anti-PLCE1 antibody increased the expression of p53 in NSCLC cells, which increased the frequency of apoptotic NSCLC cells. We conclude that NSCLC cells express high levels of PLCE1, which suppresses the expression of p53 in NSCLC cells. PLCE1 can be a therapeutic target of NSCLC.