Prognostic Impact of Hyaluronan and Its Regulators in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Background

Although pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is characterized by an abundant stroma enriched with hyaluronan (HA), the prognostic impact of HA and its regulators remains unknown.

Methods

Using immunohistochemistry, expression patterns of HA and its regulators, including a synthesizing enzyme (HAS2), and a degrading enzyme (HYAL1) were investigated in patients who received surgical resection. The prognostic significance of these markers and other clinicopathological variables was determined using univariate and multivariate analyses. The HA levels were determined quantitatively by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results

We found that strong expressions of HA (P=0.008) and HAS2 (P=0.022) were significantly associated with shorter survival time after surgery. By contrast, weak expression of HYAL1 was significantly associated with poor survival (P=0.001). In multivariate analysis, tumor stage (hazard ratio (HR)=2.76, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-6.66 P=0.024), strong HA expression (HR=6.04, 95%CI: 1.42-25.69 P=0.015), and weak HYAL1 expression (HR=3.16, 95%CI: 1.19-8.40 P=0.021) were independent factors predicting poor survival. ELISA revealed higher concentration of HA in pancreatic cancer tissues than in normal pancreatic tissues (P=0.001).

Conclusion

These findings suggest, for the first time, that HA and its regulators may have prognostic impact in patients with pancreatic cancer.     

In Vitro Selective Suppression of Tumor Cells by an Oncolytic Peptide in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a typically violent sort of malignancy and a major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Most of the radiation as well as chemotherapeutic agents used for the treatment of PDAC exhibit strong adverse effects with low specificity. Henceforth, a need for an alternative demanded that prompted us to design a novel anticancer peptide (KOR-19) in such a way that it interacts predominantly with cancer cells but exhibits low toxicity with normal mammalian cells. Cell proliferation (XTT) assay and crystal violet assay revealed that the novel designed peptide exhibited vital toxic activities against four different PDAC cell lines (BxPC3, Colo-357, Panc89, and Panc1). On the opposite, this peptide depicted negligible or very low toxicity towards a non-cancerous primary mouse pancreatic stellate cells (MPSC). In the LDH-release assay, we have detected potential membrane damaging properties of KOR-19 as its major mode of action. Further, the hemolytic assay revealed very low or negligible toxic activities towards both mouse- and human RBCs. The flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the KOR-19 expanded both apoptotic and necrotic cell death in all PDAC cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Morphological assessments also supported the notion of necrosis assassination of cancer cells as there were elevated swollen vesicle-like structure and cell aggregation noticed in a cell type-dependent manner. In summary, KOR-19 exhibits excellent “druggable” properties due to its promising oncolytic and growth inhibitory activities against PDAC cells, making it a promising agent for the future remedy choice for PDAC.

     

胰腺癌发病的分子机制和诊断

胰腺癌是高度恶性肿瘤,起病隐匿,早期诊断困难,临床疗效差,是预后最差的恶性肿瘤之一。目前临床上尚缺乏有效的非 创伤早期筛查手段,多数患者确诊时已失去手术切除的机会。因此探讨胰腺癌发病的分子机制,特别是寻找在胰腺癌组织中高度 特异性表达的基因,对于胰腺癌的早期诊断和治疗具有重要的意义。本文就胰腺癌发病的分子机制和早期诊断进行综述。     

Stromal Palladin Expression Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

It has been clear that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment play an important role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression. However, how CAFs relate to the patients’ prognosis and the effects of chemoradiation therapy (CRT) has not been fully investigated. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) representing 167 resected PDACs without preoperative treatment were used for immunohistochemical studies (IHC) of palladin, α-smooth muscle actin (SMA), and podoplanin. Correlations between the expression levels of these markers and clinicopathological findings were analyzed statistically. Whole sections of surgical specimens from PDACs with and without preoperative CRT, designated as the chemotherapy-first group (CF, n = 19) and the surgery-first group (SF, n = 21), respectively, were also analyzed by IHC. In TMAs, the disease-specific survival rate (DSS) at 5 years for all 167 cases was 23.1%. Seventy cases (41.9%) were positive for palladin and had significantly lower DSS (p = 0.0430). α-SMA and podoplanin were positive in 167 cases (100%) and 131 cases (78.4%), respectively, and they were not significantly associated with DSS. On multivariable analysis, palladin expression was an independent poor prognostic factor (p = 0.0243, risk ratio 1.60). In the whole section study, palladin positivity was significantly lower (p = 0.0037) in the CF group (5/19) with a significantly better DSS (p = 0.0144) than in the SF group (16/22), suggesting that stromal palladin expression is a surrogate indicator of the treatment effect after chemoradiation therapy.     

Comparative Characterization of Stroma Cells and Ductal Epithelium in Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by an extensive stroma being also present in chronic pancreatitis (CP). Using immunohistochemistry, the stroma of CP and PDAC was comprehensively analyzed and correlated with epithelial/carcinoma-related alterations and clinicopathological patient characteristics. While there were no significant differences between CP and PDAC regarding the distribution of CD3+ T cells and α-SMA+ fibroblasts, proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were significantly lower and numbers of CD25+(CD4+) and FoxP3+(CD4+) regulatory T cells were greater in PDAC compared with CP. Macrophages were more prevalent in CP, but localized more closely to carcinoma cells in PDAC, as were γδ-T cells. Duct-related FoxP3 and L1CAM expression increased from CP to PDAC, while vimentin expression was similarly abundant in both diseases. Moreover, stromal and epithelial compartments of well-differentiated tumors and CPs shared considerable similarities, while moderately and poorly differentiated tumors significantly differed from CP tissues. Analysis of 27 parameters within each pancreatic disease revealed a significant correlation of i) CD4+ and FoxP3+CD4+ T cells with FoxP3 expression in PDAC cells, ii) α-SMA+ fibroblasts with L1CAM expression and proliferation in PDAC cells, iii) CD3 and CD8 expression with γδ-TCR expression in both pancreatic diseases and iv) CD68+ and CD163+ macrophages with vimentin expression in PDAC cells. High expression of FoxP3, vimentin and L1CAM in PDAC cells as well as a tumor-related localization of macrophages each tended to correlate with higher tumor grade. Multivariate survival analysis revealed a younger age at time of surgery as a positive prognostic marker for PDAC patients with the most frequently operated disease stage T3N1M0. Overall this study identified several interrelationships between stroma and epithelial/carcinoma cells in PDACs but also in CP, which in light of previous experimental data strongly support the view that the inflammatory stroma contributes to malignancy-associated alterations already in precursor cells during CP.     

A Mathematical Model of the Pancreatic Ductal Epithelium

A mathematical model of the HCO⁻ ₃-secreting pancreatic ductal epithelium was developed using network thermodynamics. With a minimal set of assumptions, the model accurately reproduced the experimentally measured membrane potentials, voltage divider ratio, transepithelial resistance and short-circuit current of nonstimulated ducts that were microperfused and bathed with a CO₂/HCO⁻ ₃-free, HEPES-buffered solution, and also the intracellular pH of duct cells bathed in a CO₂/HCO⁻ ₃-buffered solution. The model also accurately simulated: (i) the effect of step changes in basolateral K⁺ concentration, and the effect of K⁺ channel blockers on basolateral membrane potential; (ii) the intracellular acidification caused by a Na⁺-free extracellular solution and the effect of amiloride on this acidification; and (iii) the intracellular alkalinization caused by a Cl⁻-free extracellular solution and the effect of DIDS on this alkalinization. In addition, the model predicted that the luminal Cl⁻ conductance plays a key role in controlling both the HCO⁻ ₃ secretory rate and intracellular pH during HCO⁻ ₃ secretion. We believe that the model will be helpful in the analysis of experimental data and improve our understanding of HCO⁻ ₃-transporting mechanisms in pancreatic duct cells. Received: 18 October 1995/Revised: 5 July 1996     

茶多糖的抗氧化活性及对细胞氧化损伤的保护机制

茶多糖是一种从茶叶中提取的酸性糖蛋白,具有良好的抗氧化活性。以自由基清除率为指标,分析皖西南地区夏秋茶多糖的抗氧化活性,基于H₂O₂和EDTA-Fe²⁺建立的外源性羟基自由基(·OH)损伤细胞模型和PMA诱导内源性羟基自由基损伤模型,进一步探讨茶多糖对自由基损伤的修复作用机制。结果表明,茶多糖具有良好的体外抗氧化活性,对DPPH·和·OH均具有较强的清除效果,EC₅₀值分别为209.5和535.2μg·mL^–1,最大清除效率与Vc相当。细胞增殖实验表明,外源性和内源性自由基氧化损伤模型中细胞存活率均随着茶多糖浓度的增加而升高,在茶多糖浓度为800μg·mL^–1时细胞存活率分别高达87.41%和85.84%,且显著高于模型组(47.67%和48.03%)。在修复机制上,利用激光共聚焦显微镜显影细胞内活性氧(ROS)分布以及荧光强度,分析结果显示,与模型组相比,茶多糖对于细胞模型中外源和内源性ROS均具有明显的清除效果,与体外抗氧化实验结果一致。茶多糖在体外表...     

Comparative Proteomic Profiling of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal cancers and is associated with limited diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Currently, gemcitabine is the only effective drug and represents the preferred first-line treatment for chemotherapy. However, a high level of intrinsic or acquired resistance of pancreatic cancer to gemcitabine can contribute to the failure of gemcitabine treatment. To investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms for gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer, we performed label-free quantification of protein expression in intrinsic gemcitabine-resistant and - sensitive human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines using our improved proteomic strategy, combined with filter-aided sample preparation, single-shot liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, enhanced spectral counting, and a statistical method based on a power law global error model. We identified 1931 proteins and quantified 787 differentially expressed proteins in the BxPC3, PANC-1, and HPDE cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis identified 15 epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and 13 EMT-related proteins that were closely associated with drug resistance were differentially expressed. Interestingly, 8 of these proteins were involved in glutathione and cysteine/methionine metabolism. These results suggest that proteins related to the EMT and glutathione metabolism play important roles in the development of intrinsic gemcitabine resistance by pancreatic cancer cell lines.     

Development and Histopathological Characterization of Tumorgraft Models of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is the one of the deadliest of all malignancies. The five year survival rate for patients with this disease is 3-5%. Thus, there is a compelling need for novel therapeutic strategies to improve the clinical outcome for patients with pancreatic cancer.  Several groups have demonstrated for other types of solid tumors that early passage human tumor xenograft models can be used to define some genetic and molecular characteristics of specific human tumors. Published studies also suggest that murine tumorgraft models (early passage xenografts derived from direct implantation of primary tumor specimens) may be useful in identifying compounds with efficacy against specific tumor types.  Because pancreatic cancer is a fatal disease and few well-characterized model systems are available for translational research, we developed and characterized a panel of pancreatic tumorgraft models for biological evaluation and therapeutic drug testing.  Of the 41 primary tumor specimens implanted subcutaneously into mice, 35 produced viable tumorgraft models.  We document the fidelity of histological and morphological characteristics and of KRAS mutation status among primary (F0), F1, and F2 tumors for the twenty models that have progressed to the F3 generation.  Importantly, our procedures produced a take rate of 85%, higher than any reported in the literature. Primary tumor specimens that failed to produce tumorgrafts were those that either contained <10% tumor cells or that were obtained from significantly smaller primary tumors. In view of the fidelity of characteristics of primary tumor specimens through at least the F2 generation in mice, we propose that these tumorgraft models represent a useful tool for identifying critical characteristics of pancreatic tumors and for evaluating potential therapies.      

胰腺癌微环境及其免疫抑制作用的研究进展

：胰腺癌的微环境在胰腺癌细胞的发生以及增殖中起重要作用,其构成与其他恶性肿瘤的微环境类似,但又有其自身的特 点,如存在大量的细胞外基质以及胰腺星状细胞非正常的大量增生形成了胰腺癌致密结实乏血供纤维结构基础。同时,胰腺癌微 环境中存在大量的免疫细胞,其在肿瘤细胞的诱导下处于数量和功能的失衡状态,具有杀伤肿瘤的效应性免疫细胞数量减少、功 能丧失。大量免疫抑制细胞的存在使胰腺癌处在免疫抑制的微环境中,有利于胰腺癌细胞逃避免疫监视从而有利于胰腺癌细胞 的增殖、侵袭、转移。本文就胰腺癌微环境的相关研究进展进行了总结。     

X-Ray Phase-Contrast CT of a Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Mouse Model

To explore the potential of grating-based x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) for preclinical research, a genetically engineered mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) was investigated. One ex-vivo mouse specimen was scanned with different grating-based phase-contrast CT imaging setups covering two different settings: i) high-resolution synchrotron radiation (SR) imaging and ii) dose-reduced imaging using either synchrotron radiation or a conventional x-ray tube source. These experimental settings were chosen to assess the potential of phase-contrast imaging for two different types of application: i) high-performance imaging for virtual microscopy applications and ii) biomedical imaging with increased soft-tissue contrast for in-vivo applications. For validation and as a reference, histological slicing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on the same mouse specimen. For each x-ray imaging setup, attenuation and phase-contrast images were compared visually with regard to contrast in general, and specifically concerning the recognizability of lesions and cancerous tissue. To quantitatively assess contrast, the contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) of selected regions of interest (ROI) in the attenuation images and the phase images were analyzed and compared. It was found that both for virtual microscopy and for in-vivo applications, there is great potential for phase-contrast imaging: in the SR-based benchmarking data, fine details about tissue composition are accessible in the phase images and the visibility of solid tumor tissue under dose-reduced conditions is markedly superior in the phase images. The present study hence demonstrates improved diagnostic value with phase-contrast CT in a mouse model of a complex endogenous cancer, promoting the use and further development of grating-based phase-contrast CT for biomedical imaging applications.     

TIP30在胰腺中的表达及对胰腺癌细胞生物学特性的影响

目的:探讨抑癌基因TIP30在胰腺中的表达情况,并研究其对胰腺癌细胞生物学特性的影响,为TIP30在胰腺癌基因治疗中的应用提供依据.方法:采用免疫组织化学检测12例正常胰腺组织和106例胰腺导管腺癌组织中TIP30的表达情况;RT-PCR和Western blot检测TIP30基因在三种主要胰腺癌细胞系中的表达情况;根据结果构建相应慢病毒载体转染胰腺癌细胞,检测TIP30对细胞增殖能力,克隆形成能力和成瘤能力的影响.结果:TIP30在胰腺导管腺癌组织中表达缺失率为49.1％,正常组织中的缺失率为0％,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01);在不同胰腺癌细胞系中,内源性TIP30也存在差异化表达,Capan-2细胞系中表达量最高,SW1990细胞系其次,PANC-1细胞系中表达量最低;抑制Capan-2细胞内源性TIP30表达可以增强肿瘤细胞增殖、克隆形成和成瘤能力,使PANC-1细胞中TIP30过表达,可以抑制肿瘤细胞增殖、克隆形成和成瘤能力.结论:组织表达分析和细胞功能试验都证实TIP30作为抑癌基因在胰腺癌发生发展中起重要作用,为胰腺癌的治疗提供新的研究方向.     

MicroRNA-135a Inhibits Cell Proliferation by Targeting Bmi1 in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal solid tumor due to the lack of reliable early detection markers and effective therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression, are involved in tumorigenesis and have a remarkable potential for the diagnosis and treatment of malignancy. In this study, we investigated aberrantly expressed miRNAs involved in PDAC by comparing miRNA expression profiles in PDAC cell lines with a normal pancreas cell line and found that miR-135a was significantly down-regulated in the PDAC cell lines. The microarray results were validated by qRT-PCR in PDAC tissues, paired adjacent normal pancreatic tissues, PDAC cell lines, and a normal pancreas cell line. We then defined the tumor-suppressing significance and function of miR-135a by constructing a lentiviral vector to express miR-135a. The overexpression of miR-135a in PDAC cells decreased cell proliferation and clonogenicity and also induced G1 arrest and apoptosis. We predicted Bmi1 may be a target of miR-135a using bioinformatics tools and found that Bmi1 expression was markedly up-regulated in PDAC. Its expression was inversely correlated with miR-135a expression in PDAC. Furthermore, a luciferase activity assay revealed that miR-135a could directly target the 3''-untranslated region (3''-UTR) of Bmi1. Taken together, these results demonstrate that miR-135a targets Bmi1 in PDAC and functions as a tumor suppressor. miR-135a may offer a new perspective for the development of effective miRNA-based therapy for PDAC.     

Epithelia, an evolutionary novelty of metazoans

At the point in animal evolution when cells began to adhere to each other they presumably initially functioned as colonies. The formation of an epithelium that enclosed and controlled an internal milieu would have been the first event to distinguish an individual animal from a colony. To better understand when the first epithelium arose and what its characteristics were, we evaluate the morphological, functional, and molecular characters of epithelia in sponges, considered here the extant representatives of the first metazoans. In particular, we show new claudin-like sequences from sponges align most closely with sequences from Drosophila that have a barrier function in septate junctions. We also show that type IV collagen, the main component of the basement membrane (BM), is present in calcareous sponges, and we confirm the presence of type IV-like collagen (spongin short chain collagen) in other sponges. Though in sponges as in other metazoans the epithelium has grades of specialization with varying complexity of junctions and the BM, the main character of a functional epithelium, the ability to seal and control the ionic composition of the internal milieu, is a property of even the simplest sponge epithelium, and therefore the first metazoans likely also had epithelia with these characteristics, which we consider a "true" epithelium.     

miR-101抑制凋亡基因调控胰腺癌发生发展的初步研究

目的：研究miR-101在胰腺癌组织中的表达水平及其作用机制。方法：采用实时定量PCR的方法分别检测36例胰腺癌手术切除标本及对应癌旁组织中miR-101的表达水平;运用生物信息学的方法预测其可能的靶基因;通过双荧光素酶报告基因系统验证miR-101与可能靶基因之间的关系。结果：胰腺癌组织中miR-101的表达水平较癌旁组织明显降低（P〈0.01）。生物信息学分析和双荧光素酶报告基因系统结果显示Mcl-1和Ezh2基因可能是miR-101的靶基因。结论：胰腺癌组织中miR-101表达降低,可能通过抑制胰腺癌细胞中Mcl-1和Ezh2基因的表达调控胰腺癌的发生发展。