Faculty Publications

Identification Of Genes Highly Downregulated In Pancreatic Cancer Through A Meta-Analysis Of Microarray Datasets: Implications For Discovery Of Novel Tumor-Suppressor Genes And Therapeutic Targets

Document Type

Article

Keywords

DNA microarray, Pancreatic cancer, Therapeutic targets, Tumor-suppressor genes

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology

Volume

144

Issue

2

First Page

309

Last Page

320

Abstract

Purpose: The lack of specific symptoms at early tumor stages, together with a high biological aggressiveness of the tumor contribute to the high mortality rate for pancreatic cancer (PC), which has a 5-year survival rate of about 7%. Recent failures of targeted therapies inhibiting kinase activity in clinical trials have highlighted the need for new approaches towards combating this deadly disease. Methods: In this study, we have identified genes that are significantly downregulated in PC, through a meta-analysis of large number of microarray datasets. We have used qRT-PCR to confirm the downregulation of selected genes in a panel of PC cell lines. Results: This study has yielded several novel candidate tumor-suppressor genes (TSGs) including GNMT, CEL, PLA2G1B and SERPINI2. We highlight the role of GNMT, a methyl transferase associated with the methylation potential of the cell, and CEL, a lipase, as potential therapeutic targets. We have uncovered genetic links to risk factors associated with PC such as smoking and obesity. Genes important for patient survival and prognosis are also discussed, and we confirm the dysregulation of metabolic pathways previously observed in PC. Conclusions: While many of the genes downregulated in our dataset are associated with protein products normally produced by the pancreas for excretion, we have uncovered some genes whose downregulation appear to play a more causal role in PC. These genes will assist in providing a better understanding of the disease etiology of PC, and in the search for new therapeutic targets and biomarkers.

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Original Publication Date

2-1-2018

DOI of published version

10.1007/s00432-017-2558-4

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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