Expression of set is downregulated by rapamycin in human colorectal cancer cells.

The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism through which rapamycin treatment affects the expression of the set gene in human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. The effect of rapamycin treatment on set expression was evaluated by assessing the mRNA and protein expression of set in the SW480 and LoVo human colon carcinoma cell lines following treatment with rapamycin by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot analysis, respectively. Our results demonstrated that the mRNA and protein levels of set were significantly decreased subsequent to rapamycin treatment in the two cell lines, indicating that set expression may be downregulated by rapamycin in human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Our findings suggested that the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway may play a role in tumorigenesis through the regulation of the set gene.