“Pancreatic Cancer” finds the culprit? Pancreatic cancer stem cells “hijack” members of the tumor suppressor protein family to help them escape anticancer treatment
havePancreatic cancer, known as the “cancer king,” is the third deadliest cancer in the United States，Second only to lung and colorectal cancer.Since pancreatic cancer stem cells often quickly become resistant to standard and targeted therapies (including chemotherapy and emerging immunotherapies), pancreatic cancer patients’ The 5-year survival rate is only about 10%.
Previous research has shown that resistance to therapy in pancreatic cancer is caused by theThe heterogeneity (diversity) of tumor cells contributes to the development of this resistance,especiallycancer stem cells. In mid-January this year, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Sanford Regenerative Medicine Alliance published a new paper in “Nature Communications”, revealing the possible mechanism of drug resistance in pancreatic cancer cells.
In the study, scientists analyzed how changes in the epigenome, rather than the genome, might drive resistance and found that a species calledThe expression of “SMARCD3” protein is greatly increased in pancreatic cancer stem cells; Interestingly, SMARCD3 is a member of the SWI/SNF protein family that regulates chromatin and often acts as a tumor suppressor.
Furthermore, when researchers in pancreatic cancer experimentsWhen the SMARCD3 gene was knocked out in animals, the absence of the protein reduced tumor growth and improved animal survival — especially in the group receiving chemotherapy.Importantly, they also found that SMARCD3 is involved in the control of lipid and fatty acid metabolism, which is also associated with cancer resistance to therapy.Sex and poor prognosis of patients.
Altogether, the study demonstrates that drug-resistant pancreatic cancer cells rely on the expression of SMARCD3 to assist cancer cells in resisting therapy and maintaining a metabolic state of rapid growth. Therefore, SMARCD3 may become a new target for pancreatic cancer treatment.
Further reading:“Pancreatic Cancer” Zhiqing (4162) authorized partner France Ipsen announced at ASCO GI: ONIVYDE first-line drug for pancreatic cancer reduces the risk of death by 17% and the risk of deterioration by 31%
Further reading:“Pancreatic Cancer” New direction of treatment! Cancer cells incorporate collagen into the immune system! Elimination of unique collagen is beneficial for survival
Source: ScienceDaily, UCSD
