Hedgehog-glioma-associated oncogene homolog-1 signaling in colon cancer cells and its role in the celecoxib-mediated anti-cancer effect

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is activated in numerous malignant tumors, but its role in human colorectal cancer remains uncertain. Celecoxib, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, has been shown to exhibit chemoprevention in colorectal cancer, however, the effects of celecoxib on Hh signaling remain unknown. The current study presents an evaluation of Hh signaling in colon cancer cell lines and the effects of celecoxib in vitro. Active Hh signaling was observed in LoVo and HT-29 cells, with particularly high levels in the LoVo cells. However, Hh signaling activity was absent in HCT-116 cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that the expression of Hh receptor patched homolog 1 (PTCH1) was absent in the LoVo cells, but that they exhibited high levels of glioma-associated oncogene homolog-1 (GLI1) expression, while high expression levels of PTCH1 and low expression levels of smoothened (SMO) and GLI1 were observed in the HCT-116 cells. The HCT-116 cells were extremely sensitive to celecoxib, whereas the LoVo cells were resistant to the anticancer effect of the drug. Celecoxib downregulated the expression of GLI1 in the HCT-116 and HT-29 cells, but did not change the expression of GLI1 in the LoVo cells. The results presented in this study indicated that the anticancer effect of celecoxib is selective in colon cancer cells; celecoxib may target cancer cells via the SMO-independent modulation of GLI1 activity, and Hh signaling may be significant in maintaining the malignant state of LoVo cells. These findings may aid in improving our understanding of the carcinogenesis of colon cancer and the development of novel approaches for the targeted therapy of this disease.