ITGA1 is a pre-malignant biomarker that promotes therapy resistance and metastatic potential in pancreatic cancer

Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 30;7(1):10060. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09946-z.

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has single-digit 5-year survival rates at <7%. There is a dire need to improve pre-malignant detection methods and identify new therapeutic targets for abrogating PDAC progression. To this end, we mined our previously published pseudopodium-enriched (PDE) protein/phosphoprotein datasets to identify novel PDAC-specific biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets. We discovered that integrin alpha 1 (ITGA1) is frequently upregulated in pancreatic cancers and associated precursor lesions. Expression of ITGA1-specific collagens within the pancreatic cancer microenvironment significantly correlates with indicators of poor patient prognosis, and depleting ITGA1 from PDAC cells revealed that it is required for collagen-induced tumorigenic potential. Notably, collagen/ITGA1 signaling promotes the survival of ALDH1-positive stem-like cells and cooperates with TGFβ to drive gemcitabine resistance. Finally, we report that ITGA1 is required for TGFβ/collagen-induced EMT and metastasis. Our data suggest that ITGA1 is a new diagnostic biomarker and target that can be leveraged to improve patient outcomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma / genetics*
  • Adenocarcinoma / metabolism
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family
  • Animals
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Chick Embryo
  • Chorioallantoic Membrane / blood supply
  • Chorioallantoic Membrane / drug effects
  • Collagen / genetics
  • Collagen / metabolism
  • Deoxycytidine / analogs & derivatives
  • Deoxycytidine / pharmacology
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
  • Gemcitabine
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic*
  • Humans
  • Integrin alpha Chains / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Integrin alpha Chains / genetics*
  • Integrin alpha Chains / metabolism
  • Isoenzymes / genetics
  • Isoenzymes / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • RNA, Small Interfering / metabolism
  • Retinal Dehydrogenase / genetics
  • Retinal Dehydrogenase / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction
  • Tissue Array Analysis
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta / pharmacology
  • Tumor Microenvironment / genetics

Substances

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Integrin alpha Chains
  • Isoenzymes
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta
  • integrin alpha 10
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Collagen
  • Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family
  • ALDH1A1 protein, human
  • Retinal Dehydrogenase
  • Gemcitabine