Abstract 2186: Function and regulation of Polo-like Kinase 3 in human pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Abstract Pancreatic cancer is currently the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Despite the recent advances in pancreatic cancer research, patients with this devastating disease still have a poor prognosis. Therefore, deciphering pancreatic cancer-related gene expression and defining the individual gene's specific functions will make a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Recently, our lab has demonstrated the tumorigenic transformation in an immortalized pancreatic cell line, HPNE/hTERT by sequential introduction of multiple genetic alterations. We found that Polo-like kinase 3 (Plk3) is significantly down-regulated in transformed tumor cell lines. Plk3 belongs to the Polo-like kinase family and is a multi-functional kinase. We previously reported that Plk3 played a pro-apoptotic role in pancreatic cancer lines when it was overexpressed. Plk3 down-regulation in transformed HPNE cells suggests that Plk3 may have tumor suppression function during pancreatic tumor development. In addition, we found Plk3 expression is regulated by Pten. In Pten-knockout MEF cells, Plk3 expression was significantly down-regulated. So Plk3 may be downstream of Pten in the tumor suppression pathway. These data suggest that Plk3 play an important role in pancreatic cancer development. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2186. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2186