Abstract
DPC4/SMAD4 is a candidate tumor suppressor gene with a strikingly high frequency of gene alterations in pancreatic cancer that suggests a discrete role for DPC4 in these tumors. DPC4 tumor-suppressive function has been implicated to mediate the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)-suppressive pathway; however, in a DPC4-null pancreatic cancer cell line, TGFβ growth- inhibitory and transcriptional responses were found to be DPC4-independent. This was observed within native cells having a natural homozygous deletion and in clones engineered for stable expression of wild-type DPC4 integrated into the genome. This observation contrasted with the absolute DPC4 dependence of TGFβ responses in a breast cancer cell line studied in parallel. This growth-inhibitory response to TGFβ in DPC4-null cells relied on an intact ras effector pathway. These data further suggest a major categorization of TGFβ responses into DPC4-dependent and -independent signaling pathways and specifically suggest that disruption of the TGFβ- independent signal might be a basis of selection for the emergence of DPC4 alterations during tumorigenesis in the pancreas and other sites.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 37-43 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Molecular Carcinogenesis |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1999 |
Keywords
- DPC4
- Pancreatic cancer
- SMAD
- Transforming growth factor-β
- Tumor suppressor
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Cancer Research