Hedgehog Signaling Antagonist GDC-0449 (Vismodegib) Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics: Molecular Mechanisms

Singh, Brahma N.; Fu, Junsheng; Srivastava, Rakesh K.; Shankar, Sharmila

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027306

Cited by 176 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Our results suggest that anti-DLL4 can be combined effectively with gemcitabine to block tumor growth through multiple mechanisms. In addition to targeting Notch signaling, we and other investigators have recently shown the feasibility of blocking Wnt, hedgehog, or Nodal/activin to reduce pancreatic CSC frequency (50)(51)(52). New therapeutic approaches targeting pathways important for CSCs may improve treatment and, ultimately, overall survival in this very challenging disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-DLL4 Has Broad Spectrum Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Dependent on Targeting DLL4-Notch Signaling in Both Tumor and Vasculature Cells

Yen

Fischer

Hynes

et al. 2012

Clinical Cancer Research

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Purpose: We previously showed that targeting Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4) in colon and breast tumors inhibited tumor growth and reduced tumor initiating cell frequency. In this report, we have extended these studies to pancreatic cancer and probed the mechanism of action in tumor and stromal cells involved in antitumor efficacy.Experimental Design: Patient-derived pancreatic xenograft tumor models were used to evaluate the antitumor effect of anti-DLL4. To investigate the mechanism of action, we compared the activity of targeting DLL4 in tumor cells with an anti-human DLL4 antibody (anti-hDLL4) and in the host stroma/vasculature with an anti-mouse DLL4 antibody (anti-mDLL4). The effect of these antibodies on cancer stem cell frequency was examined by in vivo limiting dilution assays.Results: The combination of anti-hDLL4 and anti-mDLL4 was efficacious in a broad spectrum of pancreatic tumor xenografts and showed additive antitumor activity together with gemcitabine. Treatment with either anti-hDLL4 or anti-mDLL4 delayed pancreatic tumor recurrence following termination of gemcitabine treatment, and the two together produced an additive effect. Anti-hDLL4 had a pronounced effect in reducing the tumorigenicity of pancreatic cancer cells based on serial transplantation and tumorsphere assays. In contrast, disruption of tumor angiogenesis with anti-mDLL4 alone or with anti-VEGF had minimal effects on tumorigenicity. Gene expression analyses indicated that anti-DLL4 treatment regulated genes that participate in Notch signaling, pancreatic differentiation, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.Conclusions: Our findings suggest a novel therapeutic approach for pancreatic cancer treatment through antagonism of DLL4/Notch signaling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-DLL4 Has Broad Spectrum Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Dependent on Targeting DLL4-Notch Signaling in Both Tumor and Vasculature Cells

Yen

Fischer

Hynes

et al. 2012

Clinical Cancer Research

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“…Recent evidence indicates that the Hh signaling pathway is recruited to stimulate CSC growth. It is one of the key pathways that regulates stem cells in the adult body (38,39). Several studies have also shown that the Hh signaling pathway plays an important role in maintaining the biological characteristics of pancreatic cancer stem cells.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hedgehog signaling pathway regulates human pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and metastasis

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and devastating malignancies. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway has been reported to play an important role in pancreatic cancer development and progression. The aim of this study was to examine the activation of the Hh pathway in human pancreatic cancer tissue samples and pancreatic cancer cell lines, and the molecular mechanisms involved in the Hh pathway mediated effects on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and invasion. The expression levels of Hh molecules in human pancreatic cancer tissue samples and pancreatic cancer cell lines were evaluated using RT-PCR. The role of the Hh pathway in cell proliferation and invasion was evaluated using flow cytometry, MTT, colony formation assays and Transwell invasion assays, and the expression of cancer stem cell markers and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were evaluated using flow cytometry and RT-PCR. Tumorigenicity assays were used to further investigate the role of the Hh pathway in vivo. Hh molecules were highly expressed in human pancreatic cancer tissue samples and pancreatic cancer cell lines. Inhibition of the Hh pathway notably decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis through inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway and cancer stem cells. Furthermore, inhibition of the Hh signaling pathway significantly inhibited EMT by suppressing the activation of transcription factors Snail and Slug, which are correlated with significantly reduced pancreatic cancer cell invasion, suggesting that the Hh signaling pathway is involved in early metastasis. These results indicate that activation of the Hh pathway is a common event. Inhibition of the Hh pathway may be a potential molecular target of new therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.

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“…Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of JNK leads to loss of stem cell properties in the pancreatic CSCs both in vitro and tumor. Furthermore, loss of Kras in kras mutant pancreatic CSCs led to the loss of stem cell characteristics by downregulation of the JNK pathway [79] . Pancreatic cancers contain 1%-3% of CD133 positive cancer cells, some of which show high expression of CXCR4, a proinvasive marker [14] .…”

Section: Role Of Pancreatic Cscs In Prevention and Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into pancreatic cancer stem cells

Rao¹,

Mohammed²

2015

WJSC

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Pancreatic cancer (PC) has been one of the deadliest of all cancers, with almost uniform lethality despite aggressive treatment. Recently, there have been important advances in the molecular, pathological and biological understanding of pancreatic cancer. Even after the emergence of recent new targeted agents and the use of multiple therapeutic combinations, no treatment option is viable in patients with advanced cancer. Developing novel strategies to target progression of PC is of intense interest. A small population of pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) has been found to be resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. CSCs are believed to be responsible for tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. The CSC research has recently achieved much progress in a variety of solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer to some extent. This leads to focus on understanding the role of pancreatic CSCs. The focus on CSCs may offer new targets for prevention and treatment of this deadly cancer. We review the most salient developments in important areas of pancreatic CSCs. Here, we provide a review of current updates and new insights on the role of CSCs in pancreatic tumor progression with special emphasis on DclK1 and Lgr5, signaling pathways altered by CSCs, and the role of CSCs in prevention and treatment of PC.

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Hedgehog Signaling Antagonist GDC-0449 (Vismodegib) Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics: Molecular Mechanisms

Cited by 176 publications

References 49 publications

Anti-DLL4 Has Broad Spectrum Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Dependent on Targeting DLL4-Notch Signaling in Both Tumor and Vasculature Cells

Anti-DLL4 Has Broad Spectrum Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Dependent on Targeting DLL4-Notch Signaling in Both Tumor and Vasculature Cells

Hedgehog signaling pathway regulates human pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and metastasis

New insights into pancreatic cancer stem cells

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