Yao Jingjing, Huang Min, Shen Qinghong, Ding Ming, Yu Shaofang, Guo Yajuan, Lin Yuefang, Zheng Yaqiu, Chen Wenbo, Yan Wenxin, Liu Zhongqiu, Wang Dawei, Hu Ming, Lu Linlin
Joint Laboratory for Translational Cancer Research of Chinese Medicine of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, International Institute for Translational Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, Macau SAR, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 May 2;13:851512. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.851512. eCollection 2022.
Pancreatic cancer ranks fourth among cancer-related deaths, with a 5-years overall survival rate being below 10%. Gemcitabine (dFdC) has been considered the first-line drug for patients with pancreatic cancer. However, the clinical effectiveness is less than 20% due to drug resistance. Most importantly, overwhelming evidence suggested c-Myc and PD-L1 were generally highly expressed in pancreatic cancer patients. However, whether dFdC-resistant pancreatic cancer is associated with c-Myc and PD-L1 has not been elucidated. In our present study, we found that the expression of c-Myc and PD-L1 was markedly increased in pancreatic tumor tissues compared with adjacent tissues. Similarly, c-Myc and PD-L1 expression were also remarkably elevated in dFdC-resistant Panc-1 cells compared with parental cells. In addition, dFdC sensitivity was enhanced by the combination of dFdC and c-Myc inhibitors in Panc-1 cells. Interestingly, its sensitivity was reduced when c-Myc was overexpressed. Moreover, PD-L1 protein expression was dramatically down-regulated when treated with c-Myc inhibitors. Furthermore, artesunate (ARTS) screened from 18 compounds could reverse dFdC resistance in combination with dFdC in dFdC-resistant Panc-1 cells and suppressed DMBA-induced pancreatic cancer . In summary, our data revealed that the mechanism of dFdC resistance may be that c-Myc overexpression contributed to increased PD-L1 expression, and ARTS could overcome dFdC-resistant pancreatic cancer by inhibiting c-Myc and PD-L1. Our findings not only suggest c-Myc and PD-L1 as novel prognostic biomarkers in dFdC-resistant pancreatic cancer, but also provide ARTS as a promising candidate for overcoming dFdC resistance.
胰腺癌在癌症相关死亡中位列第四,其5年总生存率低于10%。吉西他滨(dFdC)一直被视为胰腺癌患者的一线用药。然而,由于耐药性,其临床疗效低于20%。最重要的是,大量证据表明c-Myc和PD-L1在胰腺癌患者中通常高表达。然而,dFdC耐药的胰腺癌是否与c-Myc和PD-L1相关尚未阐明。在我们目前的研究中,我们发现与癌旁组织相比,胰腺癌组织中c-Myc和PD-L1的表达明显增加。同样,与亲本细胞相比,dFdC耐药的Panc-1细胞中c-Myc和PD-L1的表达也显著升高。此外,dFdC与c-Myc抑制剂联合使用可增强Panc-1细胞对dFdC的敏感性。有趣的是,当c-Myc过表达时,其敏感性降低。此外,用c-Myc抑制剂处理后,PD-L1蛋白表达显著下调。此外,从18种化合物中筛选出的青蒿琥酯(ARTS)可与dFdC联合逆转dFdC耐药的Panc-1细胞中的dFdC耐药性,并抑制二甲基苯并蒽诱导产生的胰腺癌。总之,我们的数据表明,dFdC耐药的机制可能是c-Myc过表达导致PD-L1表达增加,而ARTS可通过抑制c-Myc和PD-L1克服dFdC耐药的胰腺癌。我们的研究结果不仅表明c-Myc和PD-L1是dFdC耐药胰腺癌的新型预后生物标志物,还为ARTS作为克服dFdC耐药的有前景候选药物提供了依据。