RNA interference demonstrates a novel role for integrin-linked kinase as a determinant of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell gemcitabine chemoresistance

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) facilitates signal transduction between extracellular events and important intracellular survival pathways involving protein kinase B/Akt. We examined the role of ILK in determining pancreatic adenocarcinoma cellular chemoresistance to the nucleoside analogue gemcitabine. Cellular ILK expression was quantified by Western blot analysis. We examined the effects of overexpression of active ILK and of ILK knockdown induced by RNA interference on gemcitabine chemoresistance. We also examined the effects of modulating ILK expression on gemcitabine-induced caspase 3-mediated apoptosis, phosphorylation status of Akt (Ser(473)) and glycogen synthase kinase. Overexpression of ILK increased cellular gemcitabine chemoresistance, whereas ILK knockdown induced chemosensitization via increased caspase 3-mediated apoptosis. ILK knockdown attenuated Akt Ser(473) and glycogen synthase kinase phosphorylation, whereas overexpression of constitutively active myristoylated Akt was sufficient to induce significant recovery in gemcitabine chemoresistance in the presence of ILK knockdown. Levels of ILK expression affect gemcitabine chemoresistance in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells. This novel finding suggests that therapies directed against ILK and its downstream signaling targets may have the potential to enhance the efficacy of gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.