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Mohanan A, Biju P, V B, V G. Unraveling Proto-Oncogene (ErbB2) Expression in Patients With Carcinoma Head of Pancreas and Chronic Pancreatitis Patients: A Case-Control Study. Cureus 2024; 16:e54859. [PMID: 38533139 PMCID: PMC10964396 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.54859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The pre-malignant tendency of the normal, non-affected portion of the pancreas is not as well explored as the multicentricity documented in pancreatic cancer cases. In order to ascertain the expression of inflammatory markers and Erythroblastic Oncogene B (ErbB2) in the non-affected pancreas in patients with pancreatic cancer, a case-control study was carried out. Materials and methods In patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer (PC), pro-inflammatory genes and a tumor marker, erythroblastic oncogene 2 (ErbB2) in the epidermal growth factor receptor family were analyzed in the pancreatic tissue at the cut surface of the normal pancreas using qRT-PCR. Twenty patients diagnosed with Chronic pancreatitis (CP) after Frey's surgical procedure were selected, and their pancreatic tissues were analyzed as controls. The HPLC-purified primers were designed using National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) software. The primer's specificity was verified for gene expression analysis using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). The genes under study were normalized using β-actin as the housekeeping gene, and the 2-ddct method was used to compute the fold change compared to the control sample. Results Patients with margin-positive were not included. Pro-inflammatory genes (TNF-α, NF-kβ, and COX-2) had significantly lower foldchange in PC patients compared to the CP group. The CP control group had higher levels of IL-6 gene expression than the PC group. Patients with pancreatic cancer had a considerably higher expression of the ErbB2 gene than patients with CP. Conclusion The upregulated ErbB2 gene in the unaffected pancreatic tissue of pancreatic cancer patients, when compared to controls, indicates that the remaining pancreas may have the capacity to cause cancer. Proto-oncogene may play a role in the pathophysiologic process in patients with pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhina Mohanan
- Surgical Gastroenterology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, IND
| | - Pottakkat Biju
- Surgical Gastroenterology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, IND
| | - Balasubramaniyan V
- Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, IND
| | - Gladwin V
- Anatomy, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, IND
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Ashok G, Miryala SK, Saju MT, Anbarasu A, Ramaiah S. FN1 encoding fibronectin as a pivotal signaling gene for therapeutic intervention against pancreatic cancer. Mol Genet Genomics 2022; 297:1565-1580. [PMID: 35982245 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-022-01943-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
The delayed diagnosis of pancreatic cancer has resulted in rising mortality rate and low survival rate that can be circumvented using potent theranostics biomarkers. The treatment gets complicated with delayed detection resulting in lowered 5-year relative survival rate. In our present study, we employed systems biology approach to identify central genes that play crucial roles in tumor progression. Pancreatic cancer genes collected from various databases were used to construct a statistically significant interactome with 812 genes that was further analysed thoroughly using topological parameters and functional enrichment analysis. The significant genes in the network were then identified based on the maximum degree parameter. The overall survival analysis indicated through hazard ratio [HR] and gene expression [log Fold Change] across pancreatic adenocarcinoma revealed the critical role of FN1 [HR 1.4; log2(FC) 5.748], FGA [HR 0.78; log2(FC) 1.639] FGG [HR 0.9; log2(FC) 1.597], C3 [HR 1.1; log2(FC) 2.637], and QSOX1 [HR 1.4; log2(FC) 2.371]. The functional significance of the identified hub genes signified the enrichment of integrin cell surface interactions and proteoglycan syndecan-mediated cell signaling. The differential expression, low overall survival and functional significance of FN1 gene implied its possible role in controlling metastasis in pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, alternate splice variants of FN1 gene showed 10 protein coding transcripts with conserved cell attachment site and functional domains indicating the variants' potential role in pancreatic cancer. The strong association of the identified hub-genes can be better directed to design potential theranostics biomarkers for metastasized pancreatic tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gayathri Ashok
- Medical and Biological Computing Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.,Department of Bio-Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India
| | - Sravan Kumar Miryala
- Medical and Biological Computing Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.,Department of Bio-Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India
| | - Megha Treesa Saju
- Medical and Biological Computing Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.,Department of Bio-Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India
| | - Anand Anbarasu
- Medical and Biological Computing Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.,Department of Biotechnology, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India
| | - Sudha Ramaiah
- Medical and Biological Computing Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India. .,Department of Bio-Sciences, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
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Kafita D, Nkhoma P, Zulu M, Sinkala M. Proteogenomic analysis of pancreatic cancer subtypes. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257084. [PMID: 34506537 PMCID: PMC8432812 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer remains a significant public health problem with an ever-rising incidence of disease. Cancers of the pancreas are characterised by various molecular aberrations, including changes in the proteomics and genomics landscape of the tumour cells. Therefore, there is a need to identify the proteomic landscape of pancreatic cancer and the specific genomic and molecular alterations associated with disease subtypes. Here, we carry out an integrative bioinformatics analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, including proteomics and whole-exome sequencing data collected from pancreatic cancer patients. We apply unsupervised clustering on the proteomics dataset to reveal the two distinct subtypes of pancreatic cancer. Using functional and pathway analysis based on the proteomics data, we demonstrate the different molecular processes and signalling aberrations of the pancreatic cancer subtypes. In addition, we explore the clinical characteristics of these subtypes to show differences in disease outcome. Using datasets of mutations and copy number alterations, we show that various signalling pathways previously associated with pancreatic cancer are altered among both subtypes of pancreatic tumours, including the Wnt pathway, Notch pathway and PI3K-mTOR pathways. Altogether, we reveal the proteogenomic landscape of pancreatic cancer subtypes and the altered molecular processes that can be leveraged to devise more effective treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris Kafita
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Panji Nkhoma
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Mildred Zulu
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Musalula Sinkala
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
- * E-mail:
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Abstract
Survivin is one of the rare proteins that is differentially expressed in normal and cancer cells and is directly or indirectly involved in numerous pathways required for tumor maintenance. It is expressed in almost all cancers and its expression has been detected at early stages of cancer. These traits make survivin an exceptionally attractive target for cancer therapeutics. Even with these promising features to be an oncotherapeutic target, there has been limited success in the clinical trials targeting survivin. Only recently it has emerged that survivin was not being specifically targeted which could have resulted in the negative clinical outcome. Also, focus of research has now shifted from survivin expression in the overall heterogeneous tumor cell populations to survivin expression in cancer stem cells as these cells have proved to be the major drivers of tumors. Therefore, in this review we have analyzed the expression of survivin in normal and cancer cells with a particular focus on its expression in cancer stem cell compartment. We have discussed the major signaling pathways involved in regulation of survivin. We have explored the current development status of various types of interventions for inhibition of survivin. Furthermore, we have discussed the challenges involving the development of potent and specific survivin inhibitors for cancer therapeutics. Finally we have given insights for some of the promising future anticancer treatments.
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Desai MD, Saroya BS, Lockhart AC. Investigational therapies targeting the ErbB (EGFR, HER2, HER3, HER4) family in GI cancers. Expert Opin Investig Drugs 2013; 22:341-56. [PMID: 23316969 DOI: 10.1517/13543784.2013.761972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies account for nearly one-fourth of all cancer-related deaths in the United States and approximately 30% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide. Use of combination cytotoxic therapy offers a modest improvement in survival, but the prognosis and long-term survival of most patients with GI cancer remains poor. In certain GI malignancies, therapies that target members of the HER family of receptors have positively impacted patient care. AREAS COVERED In this review, we discuss the significance of the HER family of receptors in esophagogastric, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers and explain the rationale supporting the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) to inhibit HER activation and downstream events that contribute to tumor proliferation, migration, and survival. EXPERT OPINION Despite recent advances, the treatment of GI cancers remains challenging. Therapies targeting the HER family of receptors have been extensively studied in these malignancies with inconsistent results. The rationale behind varied tumor responses with these agents remains uncertain. We believe that additional studies are needed to identify biomarkers that could help identify a population of patients who would be more responsive to a given therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Dandona Desai
- Washington University in St. Louis, Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Box 8056, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
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