Pancreatic Stellate Cells Promote Growth and Metastasis of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor
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ABSTRACT: We aimed to study the interaction of PNETs and pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in PNET progression through exploring specific gene expression of PNETs cultured with conditional media of PSCs.
Project description:Patients with rare pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) have limited access to effective targeted agents and invariably succumb to progressive disease. MUC1-C is a druggable oncogenic protein linked to driving pan-cancers. There is no known involvement of MUC1-C in pNET progression. The present work was performed to determine if MUC1-C represents a potential target for advancing pNET treatment. We demonstrate that the MUC1 gene is upregulated in primary pNETs that progress with metastatic disease. In pNET cells, MUC1-C drives E2F- and MYC-signaling pathways necessary for survival. Targeting MUC1-C genetically and pharmacologically also inhibits self-renewal capacity and tumorigenicity. Studies of primary pNET tissues further demonstrate that MUC1-C expression associates with (i) advanced NET grade and pathological stage, (ii) metastatic disease, and (iii) decreased disease-free survival. These findings demonstrate that MUC1-C is necessary for pNET progression and is a novel target for treating these rare cancers with anti-MUC1-C agents under clinical development.
Project description:Neuroendocrine neoplasms are a rare and heterogeneous group of neoplasms. Small sized (≤ 2 cm) pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are of particular interest, as they are often associated with aggressive behavior, with no specific prognostic or progression markers. This article describes a clinical case characterized by a progressive growth of non-functional pNET requiring surgical treatment, in a patient with a germline FANCD2 mutation, previously not reported in pNETs.
Project description:We report the application of single-molecule-based sequencing technology for high-throughput profiling of RNAs in human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET) tissues. We analyzed the transcriptome maps of primary tumor sites from patients that presented metastasis or not (localized). This analysis revelaed that the immune cell and pathway-related molecular signatures were enriched in metastatic compared to localized tumors. Given the wide change of gene expression in metastatic PNETs, we analyzed the RNA-seq data using a L1000 drug-induced signature to identify pharmacologic agents that might preferentially target metastatic disease. In a separate study, we analyzed our RNA-seq data to understand the molecular basis of sexual dimorphisms in PNETs. We found that PNETs are associated with the emergence of unique sex-specific transcriptomic differences that are not observed in non-neoplastic pancreatic islet tissues.
Project description:Mechanisms of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) proliferation are poorly understood and therapies that effectively control NET progression and metastatic disease are limited. We found amplification of a putative oncogene, RABL6A, in primary human pancreatic NETs (PNETs) that correlated with high level RABL6A protein expression. Consistent with those results, stable silencing of RABL6A in cultured BON-1 PNET cells revealed that it is essential for their proliferation and survival. Cells lacking RABL6A predominantly arrested in G1 phase with a moderate mitotic block. Pathway analysis of microarray data suggested activation of the p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb1) tumor suppressor pathways in the arrested cells. Specific inactivation of p53 had no effect on the RABL6A knockdown phenotype, indicating RABL6A functions independent of p53 in this setting. By comparison, Rb1 inactivation restored G1 to S phase progression in RABL6A knockdown cells although it was insufficient to override the mitotic arrest and cell death caused by RABL6A loss. Thus, RABL6A promotes G1 progression in PNET cells by inactivating Rb1, an established suppressor of PNET proliferation and development. This work identifies RABL6A as a new negative regulator of Rb1 that is essential for PNET proliferation and survival. We suggest RABL6A is a new potential biomarker and target for anticancer therapy in PNET patients. Total RNA obtained from human BON-1 PNET cells with RABL6A shRNA knockdown compared to BON-1 cells expressing control vector.
Project description:Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a disease with unclear immunologic triggers. This study shows that the pancreatic stellate cells(PSCs) are involved in the regulation of the immune response and can cause autoimmunity when the NF-κB signalling in these cells is disrupted. The PSCs were isolated from animals which show autoimmune pancreatitis (NEMO knockout group) or chronic pancreatitis (NEMO wildtype group).
Project description:The presence of activated pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) microenvironment plays a significant role in cancer progression. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is overexpressed in PDAC tissues and expressed by both cancer and stromal cells. The expression status of MIF and its receptors in PDAC- associated fibroblasts or PSCs and its pathophysiological roles are yet to be elucidated. The next-generation sequencing technique was adapted to check the effect of MIF absence on the expression of other genes in mice (mPSCs).
Project description:Mechanisms of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) proliferation are poorly understood and therapies that effectively control NET progression and metastatic disease are limited. We found amplification of a putative oncogene, RABL6A, in primary human pancreatic NETs (PNETs) that correlated with high level RABL6A protein expression. Consistent with those results, stable silencing of RABL6A in cultured BON-1 PNET cells revealed that it is essential for their proliferation and survival. Cells lacking RABL6A predominantly arrested in G1 phase with a moderate mitotic block. Pathway analysis of microarray data suggested activation of the p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb1) tumor suppressor pathways in the arrested cells. Specific inactivation of p53 had no effect on the RABL6A knockdown phenotype, indicating RABL6A functions independent of p53 in this setting. By comparison, Rb1 inactivation restored G1 to S phase progression in RABL6A knockdown cells although it was insufficient to override the mitotic arrest and cell death caused by RABL6A loss. Thus, RABL6A promotes G1 progression in PNET cells by inactivating Rb1, an established suppressor of PNET proliferation and development. This work identifies RABL6A as a new negative regulator of Rb1 that is essential for PNET proliferation and survival. We suggest RABL6A is a new potential biomarker and target for anticancer therapy in PNET patients.
Project description:This study aims to identify and characterise circulating pancreatic stellate cells in an orthotopic mouse model of pancreatic cancer using single cell RNA sequencing.
Project description:This study used Illumina single-end RNA-sequencing to examine gene expression differences between 2 mouse-derived pancreatic stellate cell lines (PSC4, PSC5) grown either in 2D monolayers, as 3D quiescent cultures, or as 3D activated transwell cocultures with 2 mouse tumor-derived pancreatic ductal organoid lines (T4, T5). Mouse pancreatic stellate cell (PSC) lines were derived from the pancreata of wild-type C57Bl/6J mice. Mouse tumor organoid lines were derived from mouse pancreata containing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from the KrasLSL-G12D; Trp53LSL-R162H; Pdx1-Cre mouse model. We measured genes differentially expressed among 2D, quiescent, and 3D activated PSCs that may reflect the expression changes of heterogeneous CAF population in pancreatic tumors.