Ski modulate the characteristics of pancreatic cancer stem cells via regulating sonic hedgehog signaling pathway

The objectives of this study were to investigate the role of Ski in modulating pancreatic CSCs and to examine the molecular mechanisms involved in pancreatic cancer treatment both in vivo and in vitro. In in vitro study, the results showed that enhanced Ski expression could increase the expression of pluripotency maintaining markers, such as CD24, CD44, Sox-2, and Oct-4, and also components of Shh signaling pathway, such as Shh, Ptch-1, Smo, Gli-1, and Gli-2, whereas depletion of Ski to the contrary. Then, we investigated the underlying mechanism and found that inhibiting Gli-2 expression by short interfering RNA (siRNA) can decrease the effects of Ski on the maintenance of pancreatic CSCs, indicating that Ski mediates the pluripotency of pancreatic CSCs mainly through Shh pathway. The conclusion is that Ski may be an important factor in maintaining the stemness of pancreatic CSCs through modulating Shh pathway.
Source: Tumor Biology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research