Abstract
Abstract Findings from epidemiologic studies and research with experimental animal models provide insights into alcohol toxicity-related disease pathogeneses. Epidemiologic data indicate that heavy drinking is associated with high risk of pancreatic cancer. However the molecular mechanisms by which chronic ethanol exposure changes pathophysiology of human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPNE) cells is not well understood. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) play significant role in cellular transformation, and their emergence is responsible for cancer initiation, progression and metastasis. SATB2 is required for normal mammalian development; however, it is not expressed in normal adult cells. Inappropriate activation of SATB2 gene may cause malignant cellular transformation. SATB2 regulates transcription of pluripotency maintaining factors which are required for sustaining the stem cells capacity for self-renewal. The main goal of the paper is to examine the molecular mechanisms by which chronic alcohol consumption induces cellular transformation of HPNE cells. To investigate the role of SATB2 at an early step of cell transformation, we utilized HPNE cells to generate progenitor cells either by chronic ethanol exposure or overexpression with SATB2. Our data demonstrate that chronic exposure of HPNE cells to ethanol induces cellular transformation by upregulating SATB2. Furthermore, during ethanol-induced cell transformation, cells gain the phenotype of progenitor cells / CSCs and express pluripotency maintaining factors and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. Suppression of SATB2 expression in ethanol-transformed HPNE cells inhibits stemness and EMT. SATB2 is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues derived from human and KrasG12D mice. In conclusion, chronic ethanol exposure may contribute in pancreatic carcinogenesis by inducing the expression of SATB2 gene. Citation Format: We Yu, Yiming Ma, Sharmila Shankar, Rakesh K. Srivastava. Chronic alcohol exposure induces malignant transformation of pancreatic ductal epithelial cells and generates stem cell characteristics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3068.
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