Parkin deficiency contributes to pancreatic tumorigenesis by inducing spindle multipolarity and misorientation

Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase well known for its role in the pathogenesis of juvenile Parkinson disease, has been considered as a candidate tumor suppressor in certain types of cancer. It remains unknown whether parkin is involved in the development of pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Herein, we demonstrate the downregulation and copy number loss of the parkin gene in human pancreatic cancer specimens. The expression of parkin negatively correlates with clinicopathological parameters indicating the malignancy of pancreatic cancer. In addition, knockdown of parkin expression promotes the proliferation and tumorigenic properties of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in mice. We further find that parkin deficiency increases the proportion of cells with spindle multipolarity and multinucleation. Parkin-depleted cells also show a significant increase in spindle misorientation. These findings indicate crucial involvement of parkin deficiency in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer.     

SMAD signaling and redox imbalance cooperate to induce prostate cancer cell dormancy

Metastasis involves the dissemination of single or small clumps of cancer cells through blood or lymphatic vessels and their extravasation into distant organs. Despite the strong regulation of metastases development by a cell dormancy phenomenon, the dormant state of cancer cells remains poorly characterized due to the difficulty of in vivo studies. We have recently shown in vitro that clonogenicity of prostate cancer cells is regulated by a dormancy phenomenon that is strongly induced when cells are cultured both at low cell density and in a slightly hypertonic medium. Here, we characterized by RT-qPCR a genetic expression signature of this dormant state which combines the presence of both stemness and differentiation markers. We showed that both TFGβ/BMP signaling and redox imbalance are required for the full induction of this dormancy signature and cell quiescence. Moreover, reconstruction experiments showed that TFGβ/BMP signaling and redox imbalance are sufficient to generate a pattern of genetic expression displaying all characteristic features of the dormancy signature. Finally, we observed that low cell density was sufficient to activate TGFβ/BMP signaling and to generate a slight redox imbalance thus priming cells for dormancy that can be attained with a co-stimulus like hypertonicity, most likely through an increased redox imbalance. The identification of a dual regulation of dormancy provides a framework for the interpretation of previous reports showing a restricted ability of BMP signaling to regulate cancer cell dormancy in vivo and draws attention on the role of oxidative stress in the metastatic process.     

癌症发生机理的研究进展

根据近年的研究进展,从癌基因与抑癌基因的突变及环境因素的影响等方面综述了癌症的发生机理。     

转录激活因子5参与表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯诱导的胰腺癌SW1990细胞凋亡

目的:研究转录激活因子5(ATF5)是否参与中国绿茶有效成分——表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)诱导的人胰腺癌SW1990细胞凋亡。方法:采用噻唑蓝(MTT)比色法检测不同浓度的EGCG作用SW1990细胞不同时间后细胞的增殖情况;以100 mg/L EGCG作用SW1990细胞不同时间,观察细胞的形态学变化,并采用SR-VAD-FMK/7-AAD双染法,流式细胞仪检测细胞凋亡情况;采用RT-PCR检测100 mg/L EGCG作用不同时间后ATF5mRNA的表达变化。结果:EGCG可抑制胰腺癌SW1990细胞增殖,引起细胞皱缩,诱导细胞凋亡。随着EGCG作用时间的延长,细胞凋亡率显著提高(P<0.05),ATF5 mRNA的表达明显增强(P<0.05)。结论:胰腺癌SW1990细胞中存在ATF5的表达,在EGCG诱导的细胞凋亡过程中,ATF5表达量上升,提示ATF5参与EGCG诱导的细胞凋亡。     

Somatostatin: a potential antigrowth factor for the exocrine pancreas

The increases in DNA synthesis and total DNA content after caerulein treatment support the trophic effect of this CCK analog on the pancreas. Over a 15 day caerulein treatment, pancreatic growth plateaued after 5 days and somatostatin is believed to be responsible for this phenomenon. The present study was undertaken to test this possibility. Rats were treated for 2 or 4 days with caerulein (1 μg · kg^?1), somatostatin antiserum plus caerulein or caerulein plus somatostatin (600 μg · kg^?1). Caerulein increased all parameters studied after 2 and 4 days; pancreatic hyperplasia was established after 2 days. The somatostatin antiserum significantly enhanced the effect of caerulein, especially on DNA synthesis and contents after 2 and 4 days. The trophic effect of caerulein was significantly reduced by somatostatin dramatically so with respect to hyperplasia. The effects of the somatostatin antiserum and those of somatostatin on stimulated pancreatic growth support the hypothesis that somatostatin may be considered an endogenous growth inhibitory factor for the pancreas.     

脂肪酸诱导胰岛β细胞凋亡过程中FoxO1对MTP的转录调控研究

目的研究微粒体甘油三酯转移蛋白MTP在脂肪酸诱导的胰岛B细胞凋亡过程中,转录水平受FoxO1调控的情况。方法脂肪酸处理胰岛8细胞系MIN6细胞,MTF和Hoechst染色检测细胞活力和凋亡情况;ReahimePCR检测MTP相对表达量;染色质免疫共沉淀技术检验FoxO1与肘即启动子区的结合情况;荧光素酶报告基因系统检测Fox01对MTP的转录调控情况。结果脂肪酸处理引起MIN6细胞活力下降、凋亡增加,使MIN6细胞中MTP mRNA水平上升;糖尿病模型小鼠胰岛中MTPmRNA水平上升;转录因子FoxO1的过表达可上调MTP的转录活性;ChIP—PCR结果显示FoxO1能与MZP的启动子区相结合。结论MTP在脂肪酸诱导胰岛B细胞凋亡的过程中,作为转录因子FoxO1的下游靶基因,转录水平受到FoxO1的调控。