E-cadherin might be a stage-dependent modulator in aggressiveness in pancreatic cancer cells

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) pathology is known for its uncontrollable progress due to highly invasivecharacteristics and refractory behavior against existing chemotherapies. The aberrant expression of CDH1 (expresses the proteinE-cadherin) is associated with increased overall survival in various cancers, however, E-cadherin expression in PDAC progression hasremained elusive. We investigated the impact of exogenously elevated E-cadherin levels on the tumorigenicity of transduced low gradeand metastatic PDAC cell lines, Panc-1 and AsPC-1, respectively. Constitutive expression of E-cadherin promoted a more hybrid E/Mstate in AsPC-1 cells, while it was associated with the acquisition of a more epithelial-like state in Panc1 cells. Our study suggests thatE-cadherin may play differential roles in determining the metastatic characteristics of primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer cells.