Roles of small G-proteins in regulating pancreatic cancer cell invasion and metastasis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25461023
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gastroenterology
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: Iwasaki Shinji 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系臨床医学部門, 准教授 (10232654)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TANIUCHI Keisuke 高知大学, 医学部附属病院, 特任准教授 (50626869)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 膵臓学 / 低分子量Ｇタンパク質 / 膵臓がん / 浸潤・転移

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We previously reported that BART inhibited pancreatic cancer cell invasion and metastasis. This project seeks to identify the mechanisms by which BART inhibits the invasiveness and metastasis through regulating specific small G-proteins. The data provided here could provide important information to aid to improve the clinical outcome of pancreatic cancer patients. We determined the binding sites of two small G-proteins ARL2 and Rac1 with endogenous BART in pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, a specific ARL2-peptide and a specific Rac-1 peptide that could inhibit their binding with BART were found. Each peptide functioned in altering the activities of ARL2 and Rac1, and thereby inhibited pancreatic cancer cell motility and invasion. These discovery based studies will provide insight into the manner in which BART acts on the specific small G-proteins that are important to the motility and invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells.

Free Research Field

消化器病学