is Up-regulated in Pancreatic Cancer and Promotes Cancer Cell Proliferation and Inhibits Apoptosis.

: The lack of effective therapeutic targets poses a leading challenge to prolong survival and improve the quality of life for pancreatic cancer patients. Proteasome 26S subunit ATPase 2 (), a recently discovered gene, has been implicated in certain human carcinogenesis. However, limited data is available concerning the functional significance of in cancer cell growth, and whether it plays a role in pancreatic carcinogenesis remains unknown. : Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to assess mRNA expression levels of in different pancreatic cancer cell lines. Knockdown of was achieved by using short hairpin RNA (shRNA). The effects of silencing on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by the MTT cell proliferation assay, Celigoassays, Annexin V fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) assay and Caspase-3/7 array. : High expression of was detected in three pancreatic cancer cell lines (SW1990, PANC-1, and AsPC-1). Knockdown of in SW1990 cells inhibited proliferation and enhanced apoptosis. : Our primary study suggests that might be involved in the progression of pancreatic cancer and may serve as a potential therapeutic target.