Abstract 5203: Long non-coding RNA H19 as a novel therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), non-protein coding transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides, have been recently reported to play important roles in carcinogenesis and cancer metastasis through epigenetic regulation. In the present study, we examined the expression levels and roles of lncRNA in pancreatic cancer to elucidate whether lncRNA could be a novel candidate for pancreatic cancer therapy. First, we injected PANC-1 and PK-45H, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells into the spleens of NOD/Shi-scid, IL-2Rγnull (NOG) mice, and then established novel cell lines from liver and lung metastatic nodules. Microarray analysis revealed that H19, a member of lncRNA, and CTAG1A and CTAG2, cancer-testis antigens, were the most increased RNAs in PANC-lung-1A cells from lung metastasis as compared to the parental cells (82.4, 84.4 and 62.2-fold, respectively). Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed higher levels of H19 mRNA in the metastatic cell lines from PANC-1 and PK-45H cells than in PANC-Skin cells from subcutaneous tumors. H19 is an imprinted non-coding RNA, and the H19 gene produces a 2.3 kb lncRNA during embryogenesis. Its expression is low or non-existent in normal human tissues. H19 is abundantly expressed in liver, breast, endometrial and bladder cancers, but the roles of H19 that have been reported in these cancers are controversial. In six of 10 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, the H19 levels determined by qRT-PCR were higher than those of immortalized pancreatic ductal...

Source: Cancer Research - September 30, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Yoshimura, H., Matsuda, Y., Suzuki, T., Naito, Z., Ishiwata, T. Tags: Molecular and Cellular Biology Source Type: research