Targeting interleukin-17 receptor B enhances gemcitabine sensitivity through downregulation of mucins in pancreatic cancer

Lung Hung Tsai, Kai Wen Hsu, Cheng Ming Chiang, Hsiu Ju Yang, Yu Huei Liu, Shun Fa Yang, Pei Hua Peng, Wei Chung Cheng, Heng Hsiung Wu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide due to its poorest prognoses with a 7% 5-year survival rate. Eighty percent of pancreatic cancer patients relapse after chemotherapy and develop early metastasis and drug resistance. Resistance to nucleoside analog gemcitabine frequently used in first-line therapy is an urgent issue in pancreatic cancer treatment. Expression of mucin (MUC) glycoproteins has been shown to enhance chemoresistance via increased cell stemness. Here we show interlukine-17 receptor B (IL-17RB) expression is positively correlated with MUC1 and MUC4 expression in pancreatic cancer cells and tumor tissue. Moreover, IL-17RB transcriptionally up-regulates expression of MUC1 and MUC4 to enhance cancer stem-like properties and resistance to gemcitabine. These results suggest IL-17RB can be a potential target for pancreatic cancer therapy. Indeed, treatment with IL-17RB-neutralizing antibody has a synergistic effect in combination with gemcitabine for killing pancreatic cancer cells. Altogether, these findings provide feasible applications for IL-17RB-targeting therapy in pancreatic cancer treatment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number17817
JournalScientific reports
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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