Bynigeri RR, Jakkampudi A, Jangala R, Subramanyam C, Sasikala M, Rao GV, Reddy DN, Talukdar R. Pancreatic stellate cell: Pandora's box for pancreatic disease biology.
World J Gastroenterol 2017;
23:382-405. [PMID:
28210075 PMCID:
PMC5291844 DOI:
10.3748/wjg.v23.i3.382]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2016] [Revised: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) were identified in the early 1980s, but received much attention after 1998 when the methods to isolate and culture them from murine and human sources were developed. PSCs contribute to a small proportion of all pancreatic cells under physiological condition, but are essential for maintaining the normal pancreatic architecture. Quiescent PSCs are characterized by the presence of vitamin A laden lipid droplets. Upon PSC activation, these perinuclear lipid droplets disappear from the cytosol, attain a myofibroblast like phenotype and expresses the activation marker, alpha smooth muscle actin. PSCs maintain their activated phenotype via an autocrine loop involving different cytokines and contribute to progressive fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Several pathways (e.g., JAK-STAT, Smad, Wnt signaling, Hedgehog etc.), transcription factors and miRNAs have been implicated in the inflammatory and profibrogenic function of PSCs. The role of PSCs goes much beyond fibrosis/desmoplasia in PDAC. It is now shown that PSCs are involved in significant crosstalk between the pancreatic cancer cells and the cancer stroma. These interactions result in tumour progression, metastasis, tumour hypoxia, immune evasion and drug resistance. This is the rationale for therapeutic preclinical and clinical trials that have targeted PSCs and the cancer stroma.
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