Abstract
BackgroundPancreatic cancer is a highly lethal malignancy with poor prognosis. Anillin (ANLN), an actin binding protein, is upregulated and plays an important role in many malignant tumors. However, the precise role of ANLN in pancreatic cancer remains unclear.MethodsThe expression of ANLN and its association with pancreatic cancer patient survival were analyzed using an online database and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The ANLN protein expression in pancreatic cancer cell lines was detected by Western blot. Cell proliferation, colony formation and transwell assays in vitro and in vivo tumor growth were used to determine the role of ANLN in pancreatic cancer. Gene expression microarray analysis and a series of in vitro assays were used to elucidate the mechanisms of ANLN regulating pancreatic cancer progression.ResultsWe found that the ANLN expression was significantly upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. The high expression of ANLN was associated with tumor size, tumor differentiation, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer. ANLN downregulation significantly inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity in nude mice. Meanwhile, we found that ANLN knockdown inhibited several cell-cell adhesion related genes, including the gene encoding LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1). LASP1 upregulation partially reversed the tumor-suppressive effect of ANLN downregulation on pancreatic cancer cell progression. Moreover, we found that ANLN downregulation induced the expression of miR-218-5p which inhibited LASP1 expression through binding to its 3’UTR. We also found that ANLN-induced enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) upregulation was involved in regulating miR-218-5p/LASP1 signaling axis. EZH2 upregulation or miR-218-5p downregulation partially reversed the tumor-suppressive effect of ANLN downregulation on pancreatic cancer cell progression.ConclusionANLN contributed to pancreatic cancer progression by regulating EZH2/miR-218-5p/LASP1 signaling axis. These findings suggest that ANLN may be a candidate therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer is a highly lethal malignancy with poor prognosis
ANLN expression was upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines According to the GENT database, ANLN expression was significantly upregulated in 174 pancreatic cancer tissues compared with that in 62 normal tissues (P < 0.001, Fig. 1a) [39]
Univariate analysis indicated that the TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and upregulated ANLN expression were associated with overall survival (P = 0.002, P = 0.016 and P = 0.034, respectively) (Table 2)
Summary
Pancreatic cancer is a highly lethal malignancy with poor prognosis. Anillin (ANLN), an actin binding protein, is upregulated and plays an important role in many malignant tumors. The precise role of ANLN in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. Many recent studies suggests that ANLN is upregulated in numerous cancer types, including cervical cancer, prostate cancer, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, breast cancer, lung carcinogenesis, bladder urothelial carcinoma, pancreatic cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. ANLN was upregulated in pancreatic cancer and was involved in miR-217-mediated cell proliferation and invasion [18]. The mechanisms that underlie the role of ANLN in the regulation of pancreatic cancer progression have not been fully addressed
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