Department of Surgery, Henry Ford Health, Detroit, Michigan.
Center of Translational Data Science, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Cancer Discov. 2024 Nov 1;14(11):2162-2182. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-0137.
Cellular plasticity is a hallmark of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) starting from the conversion of normal cells into precancerous lesions, to the progression of carcinoma subtypes associated with aggressiveness and therapeutic response. We discovered that normal acinar cell differentiation, maintained by the transcription factor PDX1, suppresses a broad gastric cell identity that is maintained in metaplasia, neoplasia, and the classical subtype of PDAC in a mouse and human. We identified the receptor tyrosine kinase ROR2 as marker of a gastric metaplasia-like identity in pancreas neoplasms. Ablation of Ror2 in a mouse model of pancreatic tumorigenesis promoted a switch to a gastric pit cell identity that largely persisted through progression to the classical subtype of PDAC. In both human and mouse pancreatic cancer, ROR2 activity continued to antagonize the gastric pit cell identity, strongly promoting an epithelial to mesenchymal transition, conferring resistance to KRAS inhibition, and vulnerability to AKT inhibition. Significance: We discovered the receptor tyrosine kinase ROR2 as an important regulator of cellular identity in pancreatic precancerous lesions and pancreatic cancer. ROR2 drives an aggressive PDAC phenotype and confers resistance to KRAS inhibitors, suggesting that targeting ROR2 will enhance sensitivity to this new generation of targeted therapies. See related commentary by Marasco and Misale, p. 2018.
细胞可塑性是胰腺导管腺癌 (PDAC) 的一个标志,从正常细胞向癌前病变的转化,到与侵袭性和治疗反应相关的癌亚型的进展。我们发现,转录因子 PDX1 维持的正常腺泡细胞分化,抑制了广泛的胃细胞表型,这种表型在化生、肿瘤发生和 PDAC 的经典亚型中得以维持,无论是在小鼠还是人类中。我们确定了受体酪氨酸激酶 ROR2 作为胰腺肿瘤中胃化生样表型的标志物。在胰腺肿瘤发生的小鼠模型中,Ror2 的缺失促进了向胃小凹细胞表型的转变,这种转变在向 PDAC 的经典亚型进展过程中在很大程度上得以维持。在人类和小鼠胰腺癌中,ROR2 的活性继续拮抗胃小凹细胞表型,强烈促进上皮间质转化,赋予对 KRAS 抑制剂的耐药性,并对 AKT 抑制剂敏感。意义:我们发现受体酪氨酸激酶 ROR2 是胰腺癌前病变和胰腺癌中细胞表型的重要调节因子。ROR2 驱动侵袭性 PDAC 表型,并赋予对 KRAS 抑制剂的耐药性,这表明靶向 ROR2 将增强对这新一代靶向治疗的敏感性。见 Marasco 和 Misale 的相关评论,第 2018 页。