Therapeutic Targeting of Epithelial Mesenchymal Cellular Plasticity in Pancreatic Cancer
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE311574 | GEO | 2025/12/04
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:PDAC epithelial (E) and quasi-mesenchymal (QM) subtypes can be modulated by different therapies demonstrating the plasticity of PDAC cells that contributes to the heterogeneity of PDAC tumors and their intrinsic resistance to a broad spectrum of therapies. Understanding and monitoring the fluidity of PDAC E and QM states are critical to the development of improved clinical trial design to target these different subpopulations
2020-01-08 | GSE141116 | GEO
Project description:Nuclear Protein 1 (Nupr1) is a major actor of the cell stress response required for KrasG12D-driven formation of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplastic (PanINs) lesions in mice. We investigated the impact of Nupr1-depletion on the development and biology of murin pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDAC) in the Pdx1-cre;LSL-KrasG12D;Ink4a/Arffl/fl (KIC) mice. We found that only one half of Nupr1-deficient mice developed PDAC. This is related to increased caspase 3 activity and low IER3 expression in Nupr1-deficient;KIC in the pancreas. Moreover, when Nupr1-deficient;KIC mice do develop PDAC, tumors present with impaired epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Transcriptoma analysis revealed that Nupr1-deficient and Nupr1wt;KIC PDACs presented enrichment of gene signatures of the human classical- and quasi-mesenchymal (QM)-PDAC respectively. Moreover, Nupr1-deficient;KIC PDACs shared with human classical-PDACs overexpression of Kras-activation genes. In addition, cells derived from Nupr1-deficient;KIC PDACs formed fewer microspheres in vitro compared to Nupr1wt;KIC cells, indicative of stemness impairment in the absence of Nupr1. Finally, we found that Nupr1-deficient;KIC cells were more sensitive to some anticancer drugs than their Nupr1wt counterpart. Hence, this study establishes the pivotal role of Nupr1 in PDAC progression after PanIN and in PDAC EMT in vivo, with an impact in PDAC cell stemness. As a consequence, according to absence or presence of Nupr1, KIC mice develop tumors that phenocopy human classical- or QM-PDAC, respectively, thus becoming attractive models for preclinical drug trials. We investigated the impact of the homozygous deletion of the Nupr1 gene on pancreatic adenocarcinoma development and biology in the Pdx1-cre;LSL-KrasG12D;Ink4a/Arffl/fl (KIC) mouse model.
2012-12-16 | E-GEOD-42322 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Nuclear Protein 1 (Nupr1) is a major actor of the cell stress response required for KrasG12D-driven formation of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplastic (PanINs) lesions in mice. We investigated the impact of Nupr1-depletion on the development and biology of murin pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDAC) in the Pdx1-cre;LSL-KrasG12D;Ink4a/Arffl/fl (KIC) mice. We found that only one half of Nupr1-deficient mice developed PDAC. This is related to increased caspase 3 activity and low IER3 expression in Nupr1-deficient;KIC in the pancreas. Moreover, when Nupr1-deficient;KIC mice do develop PDAC, tumors present with impaired epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Transcriptoma analysis revealed that Nupr1-deficient and Nupr1wt;KIC PDACs presented enrichment of gene signatures of the human classical- and quasi-mesenchymal (QM)-PDAC respectively. Moreover, Nupr1-deficient;KIC PDACs shared with human classical-PDACs overexpression of Kras-activation genes. In addition, cells derived from Nupr1-deficient;KIC PDACs formed fewer microspheres in vitro compared to Nupr1wt;KIC cells, indicative of stemness impairment in the absence of Nupr1. Finally, we found that Nupr1-deficient;KIC cells were more sensitive to some anticancer drugs than their Nupr1wt counterpart. Hence, this study establishes the pivotal role of Nupr1 in PDAC progression after PanIN and in PDAC EMT in vivo, with an impact in PDAC cell stemness. As a consequence, according to absence or presence of Nupr1, KIC mice develop tumors that phenocopy human classical- or QM-PDAC, respectively, thus becoming attractive models for preclinical drug trials.
2012-12-16 | GSE42322 | GEO
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly disease and a major health problem in the United States. While the cytokine TGF-β has been implicated in PDAC development, it can exert bot pro- and anti-tumorigenic effects that are highly context dependent and incompletely understood. To better characterize the responses of neoplastic pancreas cells to TGF-β, three-dimensional (3D) cultures of KrasG12D-expressing mouse pancreatic epithelial cells were employed. While active exposure to exogenous TGF-β caused the KrasG12D cells to growth arrest, its subsequent removal allowed the cells to enter a hyper-proliferative, quasi-mesenchymal (QM) and progenitor-like state. This transition was highly stable and maintained by autocrine TGF-β signaling. Transient pulses of TGF-β have been observed during pancreatitis, a major risk factor for PDAC, and may therefore serve to convert pre-existing KrasG12D-expressing cells into QM cells. While untreated KrasG12D cells formed simple cysts in vivo, QM cells formed ductal structures resembling human PanINs. Furthermore, markers of the QM state are expressed in human PDAC and are associated with worse outcomes. These data suggest that the QM state plays a role in PDAC development and may selectively contribute to more aggressive PDAC subtypes. This work therefore provides novel molecular insights into both PDAC development and the complex role of TGF-β in tumorigenesis.
2018-12-25 | GSE101659 | GEO
Project description:GSK-3b plays a critical role in regulating the Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway, and manipulating GSK-3b in dendritic cells (DCs) has been shown to improve anti-tumor efficacy of DC vaccines. Since inhibition of GSK-3b leads to activation of b-catenin, we hypothesize that blocking GSK-3b in DCs negatively regulates DC-mediated CD8 T cell immunity and anti-tumor immunity. Using CD11c-GSK-3b-/- conditional knockout mice in which GSK-3b is genetically deleted in CD11c-expressing DCs, we surprisingly found that deletion of GSK-3b in DCs resulted in increased anti-tumor immunity, which contradicted our initial expectation of reduced anti-tumor immunity due to presumed upregulation of b-catenin in DCs. Indeed, we found by both western blot and flow cytometry that deletion of GSK-3b in DCs did not lead to augmented expression of b-catenin protein, suggesting that GSK-3b exerts its function independent of b-catenin. Supporting this notion, our single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis revealed that GSK-3b-deficient DCs exhibited distinct gene expression patterns with minimally overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) compared to DCs with activated b-catenin. This suggests that deletion of GSK-3b in DCs is unlikely to lead to upregulation of b-catenin at the transcriptional level. Consistent with enhanced anti-tumor immunity, we also found that CD11c-GSK-3b-/- mice exhibited significantly augmented cross-priming of antigen-specific CD8 T cells following DC-targeted vaccines. We further found that deletion of GSK-3b in DCs completely abrogated memory CD8 T cell responses, suggesting that GSK-3b in DCs also plays a negative role in regulating the differentiation and/or maintenance of memory CD8 T cells. scRNA-seq analysis further revealed that although deletion of GSK-3b in DCs positively regulated transcriptional programs for effector differentiation and function of primed antigen-specific CD8 T cells in CD11c-GSK-3b-/- mice during the priming phase, it resulted in significantly reduced antigen-specific memory CD8 T cells, consistent with diminished memory responses. Taken together, our data demonstrate that GSK-3b in DCs has opposite functions in regulating cross-priming and memory CD8 T cell responses, and GSK-3b exerts its functions independent of its regulation of b-catenin.
2024-09-12 | GSE276602 | GEO
Project description:The two vertebrate Gsk-3 isoforms, Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b, are encoded by distinct genetic loci and exhibit mostly redundant function in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Here we report that deletion of both Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b in mouse ESCs results in significant changes in gene expression. In contrast, deletion of either Gsk-3a or Gsk-3b individually had little effect on gene expression. These data support the notion that Gsk-3 isoforms are functionally redundant in embryonic stem cells. In addition, we did not find the expected upregulation of known Wnt target genes. Our data suggests that Gsk-3-meidated regulation of gene expression in embryonic stem cells is complex, and likely involves affects on numerous signaling pathways. The study was designed to examine the changes in gene expression between wild-type, Gsk-3a-/-, Gsk-3b-/-, and Gsk-3a-/-;Gsk-3b-/- mouse embryonic stem cells.
2011-09-14 | E-GEOD-27395 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells undergo epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation (EMT) in adaption to environmental cues, including inflammation, a process that combines tumour cell dedifferentiation with dissemination and acquisition of stemness features. However, the mechanisms coupling inflammation-induced signalling pathways with EMT and stemness remain largely unknown. Here, we reveal the inflammation-induced transcription factor NFATc1 as a central regulator of pancreatic cancer cell plasticity.
2015-02-10 | E-MTAB-2324 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria Ca2+ transfer is important for cancer cell survival, but the role of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake through the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is poorly understood. Here, we show that increased MCU expression is associated with malignancy and poorer outcomes in PDAC patients. In isogenic murine PDAC models, Mcu deletion (McuKO) ablated mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, which reduced proliferation and inhibited self-renewal. Orthotopic implantation of MCU-null tumor cells reduced primary tumor growth and metastasis. Mcu deletion reduced the cellular plasticity of tumor cells by inhibiting epithelial-to- mesenchymal transition (EMT), which contributes to metastatic competency in PDAC. Mechanistically, the loss of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake reduced expression of the key EMT transcription factor Snail and secretion of the EMT-inducing ligand TGFβ. Snail re-expression and TGFβ treatment rescued deficits in McuKO cells and restored their metastatic ability. Thus, MCU may present a therapeutic target in PDAC to limit cancer-cell-induced EMT and metastasis.
2025-04-10 | GSE287625 | GEO
Project description:The two vertebrate Gsk-3 isoforms, Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b, are encoded by distinct genetic loci and exhibit mostly redundant function in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Here we report that deletion of both Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b in mouse ESCs results in significant changes in gene expression. In contrast, deletion of either Gsk-3a or Gsk-3b individually had little effect on gene expression. These data support the notion that Gsk-3 isoforms are functionally redundant in embryonic stem cells. In addition, we did not find the expected upregulation of known Wnt target genes. Our data suggests that Gsk-3-meidated regulation of gene expression in embryonic stem cells is complex, and likely involves affects on numerous signaling pathways.
2011-09-15 | GSE27395 | GEO
Project description:The two vertebrate Gsk-3 isoforms, Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b, are encoded by distinct genetic loci and exhibit mostly redundant function in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Here we report that deletion of both Gsk-3a and Gsk-3b in mouse ESCs results in misregulated expression of imprinted genes and hypomethylation of corresponding imprinted loci. Treatment of wild-type ESCs with small molecule inhibitors of Gsk-3 phenocopies the DNA hypomethylation of imprinted loci observed in Gsk-3 null ESCs. We provide evidence that DNA hypomethylation in Gsk-3 null ESCs is due to a reduction in the levels of the de novo DNA methyltransferase, Dnmt3a2. Gsk-3 activity serves as a node for several signal transduction pathways, and its regulation of Dnmt3a2 expression raises the possibility that DNA methylation could be transiently affected by different types of environmental stimuli. Our data suggest that modulating Gsk-3 activity could have further reaching effects in the regulation of the epigenome. Keywords: Gene expression array-based The study was designed to examine the changes in gene expression between wild-type and Gsk-3a-/-;Gsk-3b-/- mouse embryonic stem cells.
2010-11-15 | E-GEOD-20015 | biostudies-arrayexpress