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Ren LK, Lu RS, Fei XB, Chen SJ, Liu P, Zhu CH, Wang X, Pan YZ. Unveiling the role of PYGB in pancreatic cancer: a novel diagnostic biomarker and gene therapy target. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2024; 150:127. [PMID: 38483604 PMCID: PMC10940407 DOI: 10.1007/s00432-024-05644-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant tumor that poses a severe threat to human health. Brain glycogen phosphorylase (PYGB) breaks down glycogen and provides an energy source for tumor cells. Although PYGB has been reported in several tumors, its role in PC remains unclear. METHODS We constructed a risk diagnostic model of PC-related genes by WGCNA and LASSO regression and found PYGB, an essential gene in PC. Then, we explored the pro-carcinogenic role of PYGB in PC by in vivo and in vitro experiments. RESULTS We found that PYGB, SCL2A1, and SLC16A3 had a significant effect on the diagnosis and prognosis of PC, but PYGB had the most significant effect on the prognosis. Pan-cancer analysis showed that PYGB was highly expressed in most of the tumors but had the highest correlation with PC. In TCGA and GEO databases, we found that PYGB was highly expressed in PC tissues and correlated with PC's prognostic and pathological features. Through in vivo and in vitro experiments, we found that high expression of PYGB promoted the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of PC cells. Through enrichment analysis, we found that PYGB is associated with several key cell biological processes and signaling pathways. In experiments, we validated that the MAPK/ERK pathway is involved in the pro-tumorigenic mechanism of PYGB in PC. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that PYGB promotes PC cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, leading to poor patient prognosis. PYGB gene may be a novel diagnostic biomarker and gene therapy target for PC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Kun Ren
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
| | - Ri-Shang Lu
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
| | - Xiao-Bin Fei
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
| | - Shao-Jie Chen
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
- Department of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, China
| | - Peng Liu
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
- Department of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, China
| | - Chang-Hao Zhu
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China
- Department of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, China
| | - Xing Wang
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China.
- Department of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, China.
| | - Yao-Zhen Pan
- College of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, Guizhou, China.
- Department of Hepatic-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550000, China.
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Chen SJ, Ren LK, Fei XB, Liu P, Wang X, Zhu CH, Pan YZ. A study on the role of Taxifolin in inducing apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells: screening results using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:2617-2637. [PMID: 38305809 PMCID: PMC10911370 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is a frequent malignant tumor in the pancreas. The incomplete understanding of cancer etiology and pathogenesis, as well as the limitations in early detection and diagnostic methods, have created an urgent need for the discovery of new therapeutic targets and drugs to control this disease. As a result, the current therapeutic options are limited. In this study, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) method was employed to identify key genes associated with the progression and prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) patients in the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database. To identify small molecule drugs with potential in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD), we compared key genes to the reference dataset in the CMAP database. First, we analyzed the antitumor properties of small molecule drugs using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), AO/EB and Transwell assays. Subsequently, we integrated network pharmacology with molecular docking to explore the potential mechanisms of the identified molecules' anti-tumor effects. Our findings indicated that the progression and prognosis of PAAD patients in pancreatic cancer were associated with 11 genes, namely, DKK1, S100A2, CDA, KRT6A, ITGA3, GPR87, IL20RB, ZBED2, PMEPA1, CST6, and MUC16. These genes were filtered based on their therapeutic potential through comparing them with the reference dataset in the CMAP database. Taxifolin, a natural small molecule drug with the potential for treating PAAD, was screened by comparing it with the reference dataset in the CMAP database. Cell-based experiments have validated the potential of Taxifolin to facilitate apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells while restraining their invasion and metastasis. This outcome is believed to be achieved via the HIF-1 signaling pathway. In conclusion, this study provided a theoretical basis for screening genes related to the progression of pancreatic cancer and discovered potentially active small molecule drugs. The experimental results confirm that Taxifolin has the ability to promote apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Jie Chen
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
- School of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Li-Kun Ren
- School of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Xiao-Bin Fei
- School of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Peng Liu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Xing Wang
- School of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Chang-Hao Zhu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
| | - Yao-Zhen Pan
- School of Clinical Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
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