PACAP stimulates c-fos mRNAs in small cell lung cancer cells.

The effects of PACAP on c-fos mRNA using small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell was investigated. PACAP-27 (100 nM) increased c-fos mRNA 5-fold using NCI-N417 cells. The increase was concentration dependent with 0.1 nM PACAP-27 half maximally increasing c-fos mRNA. Also the increase in c-fos mRNA caused by PACAP was time dependent; being maximal after 1 hour and returning to basal values after 4 hours. PACAP-38 but not PACAP(28-38) increased c-fos mRNA. One uM PACAP(6-38), a PACAP receptor antagonist, inhibited the increase in c-fos mRNA caused by 1 nM PACAP. These data indicate that PACAP stimulates nuclear oncogene expression in SCLC cells.