Involvement of Sonic hedgehog in the cell growth of LK-2 cells, human lung squamous carcinoma cells.

Mutation of the Patched gene has been detected in human inherited basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) and sporadic basal cell carcinomas (BCC), suggesting a strong relation between a Sonic hedgehog-Patched signal and cell proliferation. In the present study, we demonstrate that Sonic hedgehog is expressed in human lung squamous carcinoma (LK-2 and EBC-1) and some adenocarcinoma cell lines. The expression of Sonic hedgehog is also detected in the human lung squamous carcinoma tissues, but not in the normal lung tissue of the same patient. The N-terminal region of Sonic hedgehog stimulates the incorporation of BrdU into LK-2 cells and stimulates their cell growth, while anti-Shh-N inhibits their cell growth. These results suggest that a Sonic hedgehog signal is involved in the cell growth of LK-2 cells.