Protein that drives growth of pancreatic cancer could be the new target for developing treatments, according to the team of researchers at the Crick. The study, published in Nature Cell Biology, looked into the most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This is an aggressive cancer that develops from secretory and tubular cells of the pancreas.
‘CD9 protein helps cancer growth. It could guide the development of new treatments that cut off the supply of glutamine to cancer stem cells, effectively starving the cancer.’
Read More..Tweet it Now
There are no effective therapies to treat this cancer and only 8% of patients survive beyond five years after diagnosis.Read More..
The researchers analysed a specific group of tumour cells, called cancer stem cells. Similar to how healthy human stem cells repair tissues and organs, these cells have the ability to start new tumours and they can also differentiate into different types of tumour cells.
As these cells are a driving force behind cancer growth, being able to identify if they are present is an important step towards the development of new treatments. By analysing the gene expression of these cancer stem cells, the team found that a protein, called CD9, is present on their surface both when the tumour is developing and when it is more established. This protein could therefore be used as a marker to help locate these cells.
The study further established that this protein is not just a marker of cancer stem cells, but also promotes their malignant behaviour. The researchers altered the amount of CD9 in tumour cells in mice and found that when the levels of this protein were reduced, smaller tumours formed. Conversely, increasing levels of CD9 made cancer cells more aggressive and able to form large tumours quickly.
These findings were supported by existing clinical data showing that patients whose tumour cells have more CD9 have a poorer clinical prognosis. About 10% of people with this type of cancer have amplified levels of CD9.
Advertisement
To understand the mechanism behind how CD9 bolsters cancer, the team looked into the cancer stem cells' metabolism. Their findings showed that CD9 increases the rate cells take up glutamine, an amino acid which helps provide energy for the cancer to grow.
Advertisement
Source-Eurekalert