RGD Reference Report - PAX6 is expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and is downregulated during induction of terminal differentiation. - Rat Genome Database

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PAX6 is expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and is downregulated during induction of terminal differentiation.

Authors: Lang, D  Mascarenhas, JB  Powell, SK  Halegoua, J  Nelson, M  Ruggeri, BA 
Citation: Lang D, etal., Mol Carcinog. 2008 Feb;47(2):148-56.
RGD ID: 8552381
Pubmed: PMID:17849422   (View Abstract at PubMed)
DOI: DOI:10.1002/mc.20375   (Journal Full-text)

Tumors of the exocrine pancreas are a major cause of cancer death and have among the poorest prognosis of any malignancy. Following the "cancer stem cell hypothesis," where tumors are believed to originate in tissue specific stem cells, we screened primary ductal pancreatic carcinomas and cell lines for the expression of possible stem cell factors. We find 32/46 (70%) of primary tumors and 9/10 (90%) of cell lines express PAX6. PAX6 is a transcription factor expressed throughout the pancreatic bud during embryogenesis but not in the mature exocrine pancreas. PAX proteins have also been implicated in maintaining stem cells in a committed but undifferentiated state but a role for PAX proteins in putative pancreas stem cells is not known. We induced a pancreatic carcinoma cell line, Panc-1, to differentiate by transfecting wild-type p53 and treating the cells with differentiation agents gastrin or butyrate. This treatment induces cells to terminally differentiate into a growth-arrested cell with neurite-like processes, express the terminal differentiation marker somatostatin and downregulate PAX6. This phenotype can be replicated by directly inhibiting PAX6 expression. These data support a model where PAX proteins are aberrantly expressed in tumors and downregulation leads to differentiation.

RGD Manual Disease Annotations    Click to see Annotation Detail View
TermQualifierEvidenceWithReferenceNotesSourceOriginal Reference(s)
pancreatic ductal carcinoma  IEP 8552381protein:increased expression:pancreatic duct (human)RGD 
pancreatic ductal carcinoma  ISOPAX6 (Homo sapiens)8552381; 8552381protein:increased expression:pancreatic duct (human)RGD 

Objects Annotated

Genes (Rattus norvegicus)
Pax6  (paired box 6)

Genes (Mus musculus)
Pax6  (paired box 6)

Genes (Homo sapiens)
PAX6  (paired box 6)


Additional Information