The Case for GNMT as a Biomarker and a Therapeutic Target in Pancreatic Cancer

Autor: Zachary Heinzman, Connor Schmidt, Marek K. Sliwinski, Nalin C. W. Goonesekere
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Pharmaceuticals, Vol 14, Iss 3, p 209 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 14030209
1424-8247
DOI: 10.3390/ph14030209
Popis: The high mortality rate for pancreatic cancer (PC) is due to the lack of specific symptoms at early tumor stages and a high biological aggressiveness. Reliable biomarkers and new therapeutic targets would help to improve outlook in PC. In this study, we analyzed the expression of GNMT in a panel of pancreatic cancer cell lines and in early-stage paired patient tissue samples (normal and diseased) by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). We also investigated the effect of 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (PGG) as a therapeutic agent for PC. We find that GNMT is markedly downregulated (p < 0.05), in a majority of PC cell lines. Similar results are observed in early-stage patient tissue samples, where GNMT expression can be reduced by a 100-fold or more. We also show that PGG is a strong inhibitor of PC cell proliferation, with an IC50 value of 12 ng/mL, and PGG upregulates GNMT expression in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, our data show that GNMT has promise as a biomarker and as a therapeutic target for PC.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals