The Novel SLRP Family Member Lumican Suppresses Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth

ObjectivesThe past studies clearly indicated that lumican was important in the context of pancreatic cancer (PC) onset and progression, but failed to clarify the underlying mechanistic basis for such activity. As such, we evaluated the functional importance of lumican in the context of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to understand its mechanistic role in PC.MethodsLumican levels were evaluated in PDAC patient tissues via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry approaches. The role of lumican was additionally assessed via transfecting PDAC cell lines (BxPC-3, PANC-1) with lumican knockdown or overexpression constructs and treating PDAC cell lines with exogenous recombinant human lumican.ResultsLumican expression levels were significantly higher in pancreatic tumor tissues relative to healthy paracancerous tissues. Lumican knockdown in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 enhanced their proliferation and migration, but reduced cellular apoptosis. Alternatively, lumican overexpression and exogenous lumican exposure failed to alter the proliferative activity of these cells. Further, lumican knockdown in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells results in marked P53 and P21 dysregulation.ConclusionsLumican may suppress PDAC tumor growth by regulating P53 and P21, and the function of lumican sugar chains in the context of PC is worth studying in future studies.

Automated summary

Previous studies showed that lumican was important in pancreatic cancer, but the underlying mechanisms were unknown. This study demonstrated that lumican may suppress PDAC tumor growth by regulating P53 and P21.