A recent study from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has confirmed a cause of the most common type of pancreatic cancer.
They found that a protein as an oncogene responsible for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The study is published in Genes & Development. One author is Ronald DePinho, M.D., professor of Cancer Biology.
PDAC is a type of exocrine pancreatic cancer. It is the most common type of pancreatic cancer – 95 out of 100 (95%) of all pancreatic cancers are PDAC.
PDAC develops from cells lining small tubes in the pancreas called ducts.
In the study, the team validated ubiquitin-specific protease 21 (UPS21) as a frequently amplified gene and a potential treatment target.
The USP is the largest group of enzymes known as cysteine proteases, which play an important role in tumor development and cancer stem cell biology.
The team’s genomic analysis found frequent amplification of USP21 in PDAC.
This overexpression was linked to cancer progression in PDAC patients. It drove the malignant transformation of human pancreas cells and promoted mouse tumor growth.
The researchers also found that the depletion of USP21 stopped pancreatic tumor growth.
Protein ubiquitination is one of the most common post-translational modifications and can affect protein function in several ways, including protein stability regulation.
The team says the findings are important because current treatment options are ineffective in PDAC.
They say these genetic events include known oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, as well as numerous novel genetic aberrations.
Moreover, the classification of PDAC based on molecular signatures suggests the existence of distinct potential oncogenic drivers for different PDAC subtypes.
The team will explore newly characterized genetic alterations in PDAC with the goal of identifying and understanding new oncogenes that may develop new treatments for PDAC.
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