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Anterior Gradient 2 Is Expressed and Secreted during the Development of Pancreatic Cancer and Promotes Cancer Cell Survival

Departments of ¹ Cancer Biology, ² Medical Oncology, and ³ Pathology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Craig D. Logsdon, Departments of Cancer Biology and Medical Oncology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030. Phone: 713-563-3585; Fax: 713-563-8986; E-mail: clogsdon{at}mdanderson.org.

Key Words: anterior gradient 2 • hAG-2 • bioluminescence • pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is a major oncological challenge due to its aggressive growth and metastasis. In the current study, we investigated the role of anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) in these processes. AGR2 mRNA, as assessed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription–PCR (Q-RT-PCR), was 14-fold higher in pancreatic cancer compared with normal and pancreatitis tissues. Immunohistochemistry revealed high expression of AGR2 in neoplastic cells with 98% (56 of 57) positivity on pancreatic cancer and minimal staining in normal and pancreatitis tissues. AGR2 was also expressed in early pancreatic intraepithelial neoplastic lesions. RT-PCR and Western blotting showed elevated AGR2 expression in seven of nine pancreatic cancer cell lines. AGR2, as detected in conditioned media from cancer cells, indicated that it was secreted. The influence of AGR2 on pancreatic cancer cells was evaluated by silencing with small interfering RNA and short hairpin RNA. Silencing of AGR2 significantly reduced cell proliferation (MTS assay) and invasion (Boyden chamber assay) and improved gemcitabine sensitivity (fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis). Conditioned media from cells in which AGR2 was silenced had a reduced ability to stimulate proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells, suggesting that secreted AGR2 was active. In vivo, silencing of AGR2 in MPanc-96 cells led to a significant reduction of tumor growth and increased the effectiveness of gemcitabine treatments in orthotopic tumor models evaluated by noninvasive bioluminescence imaging. In summary, AGR2 is expressed and secreted during pancreatic cancer development and plays an important role in cancer cell growth and survival. These observations suggest that AGR2 may be a useful molecular target in pancreatic cancer. [Cancer Res 2008;68(19):7811–8]