Expression Levels of Protein Kinase C-α in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract Current treatments of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are inadequate and new therapies are being developed that target specific cellular signaling proteins associated with tumor growth. One potential target is protein kinase C (PKC)–α, a signaling molecule with an important role in cell regulation and proliferation. The present study examines the expression levels of PKC-α in NSCLC to better understand the distribution of PKC- α in NSCLC. We analyzed tumor specimens from an independent tumor tissue bank to determine PKC-α protein and messenger RNA gene expression in NSCLC. In addition, we used publicly available gene expression array data to further understand PKC-α–associated gene expression profiles in NSCLC. We found that PKC-a is highly expressed in ≤ 20% of patients with NSCLC. We also found that PKC-α was preferentially expressed in adenocarcinoma compared with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.