Mutant epidermal growth factor receptor vIII increases cell motility and clonogenecity in a prostate cell line RWPE1

Epidermal growth faxtor receptor (EGFR)-vIII mutant has been demonstrated to over-express as prostatic neoplasms progressed from intraepithelial changes to metastatic disease. In this study, we transfected the EGFR-vIII expression vector into an immortalized normal prostate epithelium cell line RWPE-1 and established stable trans-fectants. The cell growth, glandular morphogenesis, cell motility, and soft-agar colony formation efficiency were then studied. The results showed that EGFR-vIII mutation increased the RWPE1 cell motility and clone formation efficiency, while it had no significant effect on the cell growth when compared to non-transfected as well as mock transfected RWPE-1 cells. Moreover, EGFR-vIII changed the RWPE1 acinar morphogenesis. Further study showed that these effects of EGFR-vIII mutation may be related to down-regulation of E-cadherin and up-regulation of β-catenin.