• Mengqi Song, Bin Zhou, Bilu Li, and Lantian Tian.
• Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266003, China.
• Am. J. Med. Sci. 2021 Sep 1; 362 (3): 291296291-296.

BackgroundProstate transmembrane protein androgen-induced 1 (PMEPA1) is reportedly highly expressed in pancreatic cancer (PC). However, its biological role and associated mechanisms have not been addressed in PC progression.MethodsPMEPA1 mRNA expression and survival outcome of PC patients were evaluated via the GEPIA website. Lentiviral-mediated shRNA knockdown and ectopic expression of PMEPA1 were implemented in the pancreatic cancer cell line PANC1 cells. CCK-8 and colony formation assays were carried out to assess the biological function of PMEPA1 in PANC1 proliferation and viability. Dual-luciferase reporter assays and RT-qPCR were used to assess the interactive relationship between PMEPA1 and the MAPK signaling pathway.ResultsBy analyzing the data from GEPIA, we found that PMEPA1 mRNA expression is overexpressed in PC tissues compared with matched nontumor tissues. PMEPA1-high PC patients are predicted to have a worse prognosis than PMEPA1-low PC patients. We found that PMEPA1 shRNA suppressed PANC1 proliferation and colony formation capacity, while enforced expression of PMEPA1 yielded the opposite results. Mechanical investigations showed that PMEPA1 exerts its tumor-promoting function in pancreatic cancer via activation of the MAPK signaling pathway.ConclusionPMEPA1 promotes the progression of PC at least partially by activating the MAPK signaling pathway; thus, the PMEPA1/MAPK axis may be a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.Copyright © 2021 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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