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ROCK signaling promotes collagen remodeling to facilitate invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumor cell growth

Authors :
Nicola Rath
Jennifer P Morton
Linda Julian
Lena Helbig
Shereen Kadir
Ewan J McGhee
Kurt I Anderson
Gabriela Kalna
Margaret Mullin
Andreia V Pinho
Ilse Rooman
Michael S Samuel
Michael F Olson
Source :
EMBO Molecular Medicine, Vol 9, Iss 2, Pp 198-218 (2016)
Publication Year :
2016
Publisher :
Springer Nature, 2016.

Abstract

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a major cause of cancer death; identifying PDAC enablers may reveal potential therapeutic targets. Expression of the actomyosin regulatory ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases increased with tumor progression in human and mouse pancreatic tumors, while elevated ROCK1/ROCK2 expression in human patients, or conditional ROCK2 activation in a KrasG12D/p53R172H mouse PDAC model, was associated with reduced survival. Conditional ROCK1 or ROCK2 activation promoted invasive growth of mouse PDAC cells into three‐dimensional collagen matrices by increasing matrix remodeling activities. RNA sequencing revealed a coordinated program of ROCK‐induced genes that facilitate extracellular matrix remodeling, with greatest fold‐changes for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) Mmp10 and Mmp13. MMP inhibition not only decreased collagen degradation and invasion, but also reduced proliferation in three‐dimensional contexts. Treatment of KrasG12D/p53R172H PDAC mice with a ROCK inhibitor prolonged survival, which was associated with increased tumor‐associated collagen. These findings reveal an ancillary role for increased ROCK signaling in pancreatic cancer progression to promote extracellular matrix remodeling that facilitates proliferation and invasive tumor growth.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20160674, 17574676, and 17574684
Volume :
9
Issue :
2
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
EMBO Molecular Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.965beffc5d8b4fb09500eba6469b356a
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.15252/emmm.201606743