The RALA pathway can maintain the proliferation of KRAS- and BRAF-mutated cancer cells

By silencing of RALA, a downstream member of the RAS signal transduction pathway, we aimed to determine whether genes downstream of a mutated KRAS (codon 12 or 13) or a mutated BRAF can have significant functions in colorectal cancer carcinogenesis. RALA was silenced in three colorectal cancer cell lines (SW480, HCT116 and HT29). Effects were normalized to mock-transfected cells and the effects of scramble siRNA were excluded. SW480, HCT116 and HT29 cell lines were treated with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 or DMSO.