MEK1-independent activation of MAPK and MEK1-dependent activation of p70 S6 kinase by stem cell factor (SCF) in ovarian cancer cells

We discovered a stem cell factor (SCF)-triggered, MEK1-independent, and PI3K-dependent MAPK activation pathway in the Kit-expressing ovarian cancer cell line HEY. When we knocked down MEK1 with RNA interference (RNAi) to study the function of MEK1 on the proliferation and survival of ovarian cancer cells, we found that impaired cell growth still occurred after MEK1 expression had been suppressed, although MAPK activation remained intact. This suggests that there is MEK1-independent activation of MAPK in the SCF-induced ovarian cancer cell growth process, and that MEK1 still plays a crucial role in maintaining the malignant properties of ovarian cancer cells even when it fails to activate MAPK as expected.