Up-regulation of fatty acid synthase induced by EGFR/ERK activation promotes tumor growth in pancreatic cancer
- Department of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 210023 (China)
- College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 210023 (China)
Lipid metabolism is dysregulated in many human diseases including atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and cancers. Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a key lipogenic enzyme involved in de novo lipid biosynthesis, is significantly upregulated in multiple types of human cancers and associates with tumor progression. However, limited data is available to understand underlying biological functions and clinical significance of overexpressed FASN in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here, upregulated FASN was more frequently observed in PDAC tissues compared with normal pancreas in a tissue microarray. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that high expression level of FASN resulted in a significantly poor prognosis of PDAC patients. Knockdown or inhibition of endogenous FASN decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis in HPAC and AsPC-1 cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EGFR/ERK signaling accounts for elevated FASN expression in PDAC as ascertained by performing siRNA assays and using specific pharmacological inhibitors. Collectively, our results indicate that FASN exhibits important roles in tumor growth and EGFR/ERK pathway is responsible for upregulated expression of FASN in PDAC. - Highlights: • Increased expression of FASN indicates a poor prognosis in PDAC. • Elevated FASN favors tumor growth in PDAC in vitro. • Activation of EGFR signaling contributes to elevated FASN expression.
- OSTI ID:
- 22462140
- Journal Information:
- Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Vol. 463, Issue 4; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0006-291X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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