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NME1 functions as a metastasis suppressor in pancreatic cancer

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Abstract

Background

A known metastasis suppressor gene, NME1 (Nm23), downregulated in melanoma, breast cancer, and other cancers, suppresses migration and invasion of tumor cells. However, in pancreatic cancer (PC), one of the common and deadly cancers worldwide that largely eludes early diagnosis, NME1 function remains unstudied, prompting us to investigate its role.

Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate biological function of NME1 in pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis and explored potential mechanism mediated by MAPK/JNK signaling pathway.

Results

Western blots showed lower NME1 expression in pancreatic tumors than in normal tissues, while its overexpression in cultured PC cells induced cell death and inhibited proliferation, growth, migration, and invasion. NME1 was also found involved in multiple signaling pathways that confer metastatic properties.

Conclusion

This study identifies the important potential of NME1 in pancreatic cancer cells and role of novel biomarker and/or therapeutic target.

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Acknowledgements

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Do Yeon Kim, Hyeseon Yun, and Ji-Eun You have contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Asan Institute for Life Science, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Do Yeon Kim, Hyeseon Yun, Ji-Eun You, Dong-In Koh, Yea Seong Ryu, Dong-Il Yoon, Chul Hee Kim, Ji-U Lee, Dong- Hee Kang & Dong-Hoon Jin

  2. Department of Medical Science, Asan Medical Institute of Convergence Science and Technology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Do Yeon Kim, Hyeseon Yun, Ji-Eun You, Dong-Il Yoon, Chul Hee Kim, Ji-U Lee & Dong-Hoon Jin

  3. Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympicro-43gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Dong-Hoon Jin

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  1. Do Yeon Kim
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Contributions

DYK, HSY, JEY, YSR, DIK, and DHJ designed the experiments; DYK, HSY, JEY, YSR, DIY, CHK, JUL, and DHK performed experiments; DYK, HSY, and JEY performed statistical analysis; DYK, HSY, JEY, YSR, DIK, and DHJ analyzed the results and wrote the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dong-Hoon Jin.

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Conflict of interest

Do Yeon Kim, Hyeseon Yun, Ji-Eun You, Dong-In Koh, Yea Seong Ryu, Dong-Il Yoon, Chul Hee Kim, Ji-U Lee, Dong-Hee Kang, Dong-Hoon Jindeclares no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Ulsan college of Medicine.

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Written informed consents were obtained from all participants.

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Kim, D.Y., Yun, H., You, JE. et al. NME1 functions as a metastasis suppressor in pancreatic cancer. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 19, 767–773 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-022-00305-2

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