Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a characteristically dense stroma comprised predominantly of cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs promote tumor growth, metastasis and treatment resistance. We aimed to investigate the molecular changes and functional consequences associated with chemotherapy treatment of PDAC CAFs. Chemoresistant immortalized CAFs (R-CAFs) were generated by continuous incubation in 100nM gemcitabine. Gene expression differences between treatment naïve CAFs (N-CAFs) and R-CAFs were compared by array analysis. Immortalized human pancreatic CAFs were grown for 30 days in either control media or media containing 100nM gemcitabine. RNA was then isolated and hybidized on U133 Plus 2.0 Affymetrix arrays.
Project description:Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as the mainstay treatment for most patients, yet resistance emerges almost universally. A defining feature of pancreatic cancer is its dense, fibroblast-rich stroma, where heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) actively shape tumor biology and therapeutic response. Here, we elucidated a stromal–metabolic mechanism through which chemoresistant CAFs confer gemcitabine resistance. We identified a subset of mitophagy-competent CAFs that enhanced pancreatic cancer gemcitabine resistance. The EMT transcription factor ZEB1 acts as a master regulator of this CAF-driven chemoresistance program, being upregulated and epigenetically activated via SETD1A-mediated H3K4 methylation in gemcitabine-resistant CAFs. ZEB1 promotes BNIP3-mediated mitophagy in CAFs, leading to increased nucleotides secretion, which competitively inhibited gemcitabine incorporation into cancer cells while simultaneously supplying pyrimidine metabolism substrates for pyrimidine metabolism. Concurrently, ZEB1 transcriptionally activated CXCL8, engaging the CXCR1/2–MEK/ERK pathway in tumor cells and further augmenting pyrimidine metabolism via the RRM1/E2F1/G6PD axis, collectively diminishing gemcitabine cytotoxicity. Notably, combined inhibition of CXCR1/2 or G6PD with gemcitabine robustly suppressed tumor growth and restored chemosensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. These findings uncover a key stromal–metabolic axis in pancreatic cancer, linking mitophagy CAF activity to metabolic remodeling in tumor cells, and identifying ZEB1 and its downstream network as actionable targets to overcome chemoresistance.
Project description:Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as the mainstay treatment for most patients, yet resistance emerges almost universally. A defining feature of pancreatic cancer is its dense, fibroblast-rich stroma, where heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) actively shape tumor biology and therapeutic response. Here, we elucidated a stromal–metabolic mechanism through which chemoresistant CAFs confer gemcitabine resistance. We identified a subset of mitophagy-competent CAFs that enhanced pancreatic cancer gemcitabine resistance. The EMT transcription factor ZEB1 acts as a master regulator of this CAF-driven chemoresistance program, being upregulated and epigenetically activated via SETD1A-mediated H3K4 methylation in gemcitabine-resistant CAFs. ZEB1 promotes BNIP3-mediated mitophagy in CAFs, leading to increased nucleotides secretion, which competitively inhibited gemcitabine incorporation into cancer cells while simultaneously supplying pyrimidine metabolism substrates for pyrimidine metabolism. Concurrently, ZEB1 transcriptionally activated CXCL8, engaging the CXCR1/2–MEK/ERK pathway in tumor cells and further augmenting pyrimidine metabolism via the RRM1/E2F1/G6PD axis, collectively diminishing gemcitabine cytotoxicity. Notably, combined inhibition of CXCR1/2 or G6PD with gemcitabine robustly suppressed tumor growth and restored chemosensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. These findings uncover a key stromal–metabolic axis in pancreatic cancer, linking mitophagy CAF activity to metabolic remodeling in tumor cells, and identifying ZEB1 and its downstream network as actionable targets to overcome chemoresistance.
Project description:The generation of pancreatic organoids from human pluripotent stem cells represents a major breakthrough for regenerative medicine and the modeling of diseases such as diabetes. However, current approaches remain inefficient due to lengthy multi-step differentiation protocols and limited functional maturity in the organoids. In this study, we overcome these challenges using multi-phase optimization screens to achieve rapid generation of functionally mature pancreatic organoids from a stable endocrine progenitor culture. We conducted stepwise culture condition screens that enabled the stable culture of multiple pancreatic progenitor cell states, including the unprecedented stable propagation of NEUROD1-expressing endocrine progenitor-like cells (EpSCs). Further transcriptomic profiling of EpSC confirmed similarity of that to previously reported endocrine progenitor populations. Using EpSCs, we significantly reduced the number of steps and timing required to generate pancreatic organoids, enabling rapid testing of conditions for organoid maturation. Utilizing this optimized protocol, we further tested conditions to promote pancreatic organoid maturation. We identified that exosome-delivered WNT5B, in combination with RSPO1 (exoW/R), could strongly induce non-canonical WNT/JNK signaling, promoting pancreatic organoid maturation. This combinatorial exosome treatment enhances epithelial organization, reduces immature cell states, and significantly improves glucose responsiveness and insulin secretion. Collectively, our work establishes a robust pancreatic differentiation platform that integrates long-term progenitor expansion with optimized organoid maturation. This system provides a reproducible experimental framework for studying pancreatic development, investigating disease mechanisms, and facilitating future translational applications involving pancreatic organoids.
Project description:Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as the mainstay treatment for most patients, yet resistance emerges almost universally. A defining feature of pancreatic cancer is its dense, fibroblast-rich stroma, where heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) actively shape tumor biology and therapeutic response. Here, we elucidated a stromal–metabolic mechanism through which chemoresistant CAFs confer gemcitabine resistance. We identified a subset of mitophagy-competent CAFs that enhanced pancreatic cancer gemcitabine resistance. The EMT transcription factor ZEB1 acts as a master regulator of this CAF-driven chemoresistance program, being upregulated and epigenetically activated via SETD1A-mediated H3K4 methylation in gemcitabine-resistant CAFs. ZEB1 promotes BNIP3-mediated mitophagy in CAFs, leading to increased nucleotides secretion, which competitively inhibited gemcitabine incorporation into cancer cells while simultaneously supplying pyrimidine metabolism substrates for pyrimidine metabolism. Concurrently, ZEB1 transcriptionally activated CXCL8, engaging the CXCR1/2–MEK/ERK pathway in tumor cells and further augmenting pyrimidine metabolism via the RRM1/E2F1/G6PD axis, collectively diminishing gemcitabine cytotoxicity. Notably, combined inhibition of CXCR1/2 or G6PD with gemcitabine robustly suppressed tumor growth and restored chemosensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. These findings uncover a key stromal–metabolic axis in pancreatic cancer, linking mitophagy CAF activity to metabolic remodeling in tumor cells, and identifying ZEB1 and its downstream network as actionable targets to overcome chemoresistance.
Project description:Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies, with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as the mainstay treatment for most patients, yet resistance emerges almost universally. A defining feature of pancreatic cancer is its dense, fibroblast-rich stroma, where heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) actively shape tumor biology and therapeutic response. Here, we elucidated a stromal–metabolic mechanism through which chemoresistant CAFs confer gemcitabine resistance. We identified a subset of mitophagy-competent CAFs that enhanced pancreatic cancer gemcitabine resistance. The EMT transcription factor ZEB1 acts as a master regulator of this CAF-driven chemoresistance program, being upregulated and epigenetically activated via SETD1A-mediated H3K4 methylation in gemcitabine-resistant CAFs. ZEB1 promotes BNIP3-mediated mitophagy in CAFs, leading to increased nucleotides secretion, which competitively inhibited gemcitabine incorporation into cancer cells while simultaneously supplying pyrimidine metabolism substrates for pyrimidine metabolism. Concurrently, ZEB1 transcriptionally activated CXCL8, engaging the CXCR1/2–MEK/ERK pathway in tumor cells and further augmenting pyrimidine metabolism via the RRM1/E2F1/G6PD axis, collectively diminishing gemcitabine cytotoxicity. Notably, combined inhibition of CXCR1/2 or G6PD with gemcitabine robustly suppressed tumor growth and restored chemosensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. These findings uncover a key stromal–metabolic axis in pancreatic cancer, linking mitophagy CAF activity to metabolic remodeling in tumor cells, and identifying ZEB1 and its downstream network as actionable targets to overcome chemoresistance.
Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a characteristically dense stroma comprised predominantly of cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs promote tumor growth, metastasis and treatment resistance. We aimed to investigate the molecular changes and functional consequences associated with chemotherapy treatment of PDAC CAFs. Chemoresistant immortalized CAFs (R-CAFs) were generated by continuous incubation in 100nM gemcitabine. Gene expression differences between treatment naïve CAFs (N-CAFs) and R-CAFs were compared by array analysis.
Project description:We developed a multi-paratopic VEGF decoy receptor (Ate-Grab) by fusing the scFv of atezolizumab to VEGF-Grab to target PD-L1 expressing cells in tumor microenvironment. We compared the single-cell transcriptomes of gemcitabine-treated and Ate-Grab with Gemcitabine-treated Pan02 tumors. We confirmed the subtype of cancer-associated fibroblasts(CAFs) that modulates the collagen inside the tumor microenvrionment. In the Ate-Grab+Gemcitabine group, it was confirmed that new CAFs were regulated.
Project description:Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) comprise the majority of the tumor bulk of pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDACs). Current efforts to eradicate these tumors focus predominantly on targeting the proliferation of rapidly growing cancer epithelial cells. We know that this is largely ineffective with resistance arising in most tumors following exposure to chemotherapy. Despite the long-standing recognition of the prominence of CAFs in PDAC, the effect of chemotherapy on CAFs and how they may contribute to drug resistance in neighboring cancer cells is not well characterized. Here we show that CAFs exposed to chemotherapy play an active role in regulating the survival and proliferation of cancer cells. We found that CAFs are intrinsically resistant to gemcitabine, the chemotherapeutic standard of care for PDAC. Further, CAFs exposed to gemcitabine significantly increase the release of extracellular vesicles called exosomes. These exosomes increased chemoresistance-inducing factor, Snail, in recipient epithelial cells and promote proliferation and drug resistance. Finally, treatment of gemcitabine-exposed CAFs with an inhibitor of exosome release, GW4869, significantly reduces survival in co-cultured epithelial cells, signifying an important role of CAF exosomes in chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Collectively, these findings show the potential for exosome inhibitors as treatment options alongside chemotherapy for overcoming PDAC chemoresistance.