LMO7 as an Unrecognized Factor Promoting Pancreatic Cancer Progression and Metastasis

Xinjian Liu, Hao Yuan, Jing Zhou, Qiongling Wang, Xiaoqiang Qi, Catharine Bernal, Diego Avella, Jussuf T. Kaifi, Eric T. Kimchi, Parrett Timothy, Kun Cheng, Yi Miao, Kuirong Jiang*, Guangfu Li

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal human malignancies without effective treatment. In an effort to discover key genes and molecular pathways underlying PC growth, we have identified LIM domain only 7 (LMO7) as an under-investigated molecule, which highly expresses in primary and metastatic human and mouse PC with the potential of impacting PC tumorigenesis and metastasis. Using genetic methods with siRNA, shRNA, and CRISPR-Cas9, we have successfully generated stable mouse PC cells with LMO7 knockdown or knockout. Using these cells with loss of LMO7 function, we have demonstrated that intrinsic LMO7 defect significantly suppresses PC cell proliferation, anchorage-free colony formation, and mobility in vitro and slows orthotopic PC tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that loss of LMO7 function causes PC cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. These data indicate that LMO7 functions as an independent and unrecognized druggable factor significantly impacting PC growth and metastasis, which could be harnessed for developing a new targeted therapy for PC.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number647387
JournalFrontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
Volume9
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 8 2021

Keywords

  • CRISPR-Cas9
  • LIM domain only 7 (LMO7)
  • apoptosis
  • cell cycle
  • pancreatic cancer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology

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