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Guo Y, Jiang Y, Rose JB, Nagaraju GP, Jaskula-Sztul R, Hjelmeland AB, Beck AW, Chen H, Ren B. Protein Kinase D1 Signaling in Cancer Stem Cells with Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity. Cells 2022; 11:3885. [PMID: 36497140 PMCID: PMC9739736 DOI: 10.3390/cells11233885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are extremely diverse and highly vascularized neoplasms that arise from endocrine cells in the pancreas. The pNETs harbor a subpopulation of stem cell-like malignant cells, known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), which contribute to intratumoral heterogeneity and promote tumor maintenance and recurrence. In this study, we demonstrate that CSCs in human pNETs co-express protein kinase PKD1 and CD44. We further identify PKD1 signaling as a critical pathway in the control of CSC maintenance in pNET cells. PKD1 signaling regulates the expression of a CSC- and EMT-related gene signature and promotes CSC self-renewal, likely leading to the preservation of a subpopulation of CSCs at an intermediate EMT state. This suggests that the PKD1 signaling pathway may be required for the development of a unique CSC phenotype with plasticity and partial EMT. Given that the signaling networks connected with CSC maintenance and EMT are complex, and extend through multiple levels of regulation, this study provides insight into signaling regulation of CSC plasticity and partial EMT in determining the fate of CSCs. Inhibition of the PKD1 pathway may facilitate the elimination of specific CSC subsets, thereby curbing tumor progression and metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichen Guo
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Yinan Jiang
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - J. Bart Rose
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Ganji Purnachandra Nagaraju
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Renata Jaskula-Sztul
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Anita B. Hjelmeland
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Department of Cell Developmental and Integrative Biology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Adam W. Beck
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Herbert Chen
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Bin Ren
- Department of Surgery, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- GBS Biomedical Engineering Program, Graduate School, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
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