Suppression of dystroglycan function accompanies pancreatic acinar-to-ductal metaplasia and favours dysplasia development.

ABSTRACT: The basement membrane (BM) is among the predominant microenvironmental factors of normal epithelia and of precancerous epithelial lesions. Evidence suggests that the BM functions not only as a barrier to tumour invasion but also as an active tumour-suppressing signalling substrate during premalignancy. However, the molecular foundations of such mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here we explore potential tumour-suppressing functions of the BM during precancer evolution, focusing on the expression and function of the extracellular matrix receptor dystroglycan in the pancreas and pancreatic disease. We show that the dystroglycan protein is highly expressed in the acinar compartment of the normal pancreas but lower in the ductal compartment. Moreover, there is a strong suppression of dystro

SUBMITTER: Huang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11560643 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature