Gemcitabine-induced TIMP1 attenuates therapy response and promotes tumor growth and liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer

D'Costa, Z. et al. (2017) Gemcitabine-induced TIMP1 attenuates therapy response and promotes tumor growth and liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Research, 77(21), pp. 5952-5962. (doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-2833) (PMID:28765154)

Abstract

Gemcitabine constitutes one of the backbones for chemotherapy treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but patients often respond poorly to this agent. Molecular markers downstream of gemcitabine treatment in preclinical models may provide an insight into resistance mechanisms. Using cytokine arrays, we identified potential secretory biomarkers of gemcitabine resistance (response) in the transgenic KRasG12D; Trp53R172H; Pdx-1 Cre (KPC) mouse model of PDAC. We verified the oncogenic role of the cytokine tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1) in primary pancreatic tumors and metastases using both in vitro techniques and animal models. We identified potential pathways affected downstream of TIMP1 using the Illumina Human H12 array. Our findings were validated in both primary and metastatic models of pancreatic cancer. Gemcitabine increased inflammatory cytokines including TIMP1 in the KPC mouse model. TIMP1 was upregulated in patients with pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias grade 3 and PDAC lesions relative to matched normal pancreatic tissue. In addition, TIMP1 played a role in tumor clonogenic survival and vascular density, while TIMP1 inhibition resensitized tumors to gemcitabine and radiotherapy. We observed a linear relationship between TIMP-1 expression, liver metastatic burden, and infiltration by CD11b+Gr1+ myeloid cells and CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs, whereas the presence of tumor cells was required for immune cell infiltration. Overall, our results identify TIMP1 upregulation as a resistance mechanism to gemcitabine and provide a rationale for combining chemo/radiotherapy with TIMP1 inhibitors in PDAC.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sansom, Professor Owen
• Authors: D'Costa, Z., Jones, K., Azad, A., van Stiphout, R., Lim, S. Y., Gomes, A. L., Kinchesh, P., Smart, S. C., Gillies McKenna, W., Buffa, F. M., Sansom, O. J., Muschel, R. J., O'Neill, E., and Fokas, E.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Cancer Research
• Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research
• ISSN: 0008-5472
• ISSN (Online): 1538-7445
• Published Online: 01 August 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 American Association for Cancer Research
• First Published: First published in Cancer Research 77(21): 5952-5962
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy