The role of thromboxane A 2 (TxA 2 ) in smokingassociated lung cancer is poorly understood. This study was conducted to study the role of TxA 2 in smoking carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-promoted cell survival and growth in human lung cancer cells. We found that NNK increased TxA 2 synthase (TxAS) expression and thromboxane B 2 (TxB 2 ) generation in cultured lung cancer cells, the result of which was supported by the increased level of TxAS in lung cancer tissues of smokers. Both TxAS-specific inhibitor furegrelate and TxA 2 receptor antagonist SQ29548 completely blocked NNK-mediated cell survival and growth via inducting apoptosis. TxA 2 receptor agonist U46619 reconstituted a near-full survival and growth response to NNK when TxAS was inhibited, affirming the role of TxA 2 receptor in NNK-mediated cell survival and growth. Suppression of cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB) activity by its small interference RNA blocked the effect of NNK. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) also had a positive role. Altogether, our results have revealed that NNK stimulates TxA 2 synthesis and activates its receptor in lung cancer cells. The increased TxA 2 may then activate CREB through PI3K/Akt and extracellular ERK pathways, thereby contributing to the NNK-promoted survival and growth of lung cancer cells.

Pioglitazone (PGZ), a synthetic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) ligand, is known to have anti-tumor activity by inducing tumor cell apoptosis. However, it is unknown whether it can be used to prevent smoking carcinogen-induced lung tumor development. We induced mouse lung tumors using smoking carcinogen 4- methylnitrosamino-l-3-pyridyl-butanone (NNK). PGZ was given at two early stages before the tumor formation. The role and the functional mechanism of PGZ were investigated in the development of mouse pulmonary tumors. The tumor development was monitored and PPARγ activity and endogenous PPARγ ligands 15(S)-HETE, 13(S)-HODE were determined. The application of PGZ before alveolar hyperplasia formation (Group NPa) and at the early phase of alveolar hyperplasia formation (Group NPb) significantly prevented the lung tumor development especially in Group NPb mice (all p < 0.05). PGZ not only prevented the NNK-mediated reduction of endogenous ligands 15(S)-HETE and 13(S)-HODE, but also increased 13(S)-HODE level in Group NPb mice. PPARγ transcriptional activity was increased in NNKstimulated lung tissues when PGZ was given. The in vivo results were confirmed in the human lung cancer cells, which showed that PGZ induced lung cancer cell apoptosis through up-regulating nuclear PPARγ expression, inducing PPARγ transcriptional activity and increasing the levels of PPARγ ligands in NNK-treated cells. The early application of PGZ is able to prevent NNK-induced lung tumor development through maintaining the level of endogenous PPARγ ligands 15(S)-HETE and 13(S)-HODE and activation of PPARγ.