Noriko Mori1, Mayur Gadiya2,
Flonne Wildes2, Balaji Krishnamachary2, Zaver M.
Bhujwalla2
1JHU ICMIC Program, The
Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology & Radiological Science, The
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine , Baltimore, MD, United States; 2JHU
ICMIC Program, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology &
Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine,
Baltimore, MD, United States
Elevated phosphocholine and high choline kinase (Chk) expression are typically observed in cancer. Chk is being evaluated as a novel target in cancer treatment using pharmacological and molecular inhibition. Since these agents are delivered systemically it is important to determine the effect of Chk on endothelial cells in normal and tumor tissue. We used siRNA against Chk (siRNA-chk) to down-regulate Chk expression in endothelial cells. Transient siRNA-chk transfection significantly reduced phosphocholine levels and proliferation in breast cancer cells, but not in endothelial cells. These data suggest that downregulation of Chk does not affect endothelial cell proliferation.