Gene expression analysis of pancreatic cell lines reveals genes overexpressed in pancreatic cancer

• Published in: Pancreatology : official journal of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) ... [et al.] 2005-01, Vol.5 (4-5), p.370-379
• Main Authors: Alldinger, Ingo, Dittert, Dag, Peiper, Matthias, Fusco, Alberto, Chiappetta, Gennaro, Staub, Eike, Löhr, Matthias, Jesnowski, Ralf, Baretton, Gustavo, Ockert, Detlef, Saeger, Hans-Detlev, Grützmann, Robert, Pilarsky, Christian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cancer; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - genetics; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - metabolism; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - secondary; Cell line; Cell Line, Tumor; Down-Regulation; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct; Gene Expression Profiling; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Microarray; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Pancreas; Pancreas - metabolism; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms - genetics; Pancreatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Pancreatic Neoplasms - pathology; Primary isolates; Thymosin; Thymosin - genetics; Thymosin - metabolism; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 1424-3903; 1424-3911
• DOI: 10.1159/000086537

Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death. Using DNA gene expression analysis based on a custom made Affymetrix cancer array, we investigated the expression pattern of both primary and established pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Methods: We analyzed the gene expression of 5 established pancreatic cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, BxPC-3, Capan-1, Capan-2 and HPAF II) and 5 primary isolates, 1 of them derived from benign pancreatic duct cells. Results: Out of 1,540 genes which were expressed in at least 3 experiments, we found 122 genes upregulated and 18 downregulated in tumor cell lines compared to benign cells with a fold change > 3. Several of the upregulated genes (like Prefoldin 5, ADAM9 and E-cadherin) have been associated with pancreatic cancer before. The other differentially regulated genes, however, play a so far unknown role in the course of human pancreatic carcinoma. By means of immunohistochemistry we could show that thymosin [β-10 (TMSB10), upregulated in tumor cell lines, is expressed in human pancreatic carcinoma, but not in non-neoplastic pancreatic tissue, suggesting a role for TMSB10 in the carcinogenesis of pancreatic carcinoma. Conclusion: Using gene expression profiling of pancreatic cell lines we were able to identify genes differentially expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, which might contribute to pancreatic cancer development.