Biophysical Changes Caused by Altered MUC13 Expression in Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Authors

Andrew E. Massey
Kyle Doxtater, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Murali M. Yallapu, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Subhash C. Chauhan, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-3-2020

Abstract

Background

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers in the United States. This is partly due to the difficulty in early detection of this disease as well as poor therapeutic responses to currently available regimens. Our previous reports suggest that mucin 13 (MUC13, a transmembrane mucin common to gastrointestinal cells) is aberrantly expressed in this disease state, and has been implicated with a worsened prognosis and an enhanced metastatic potential in PanCa. However, there is virtually no information currently to describe the biophysical ramifications of this protein.

Methods

To demonstrate the biophysical effect of MUC13 in PanCa, we generated overexpressing and knockdown model cell lines for PanCa and subsequently subjected them to various biophysical experiments using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cellular aggregation studies.

Results

AFM-based nanoindentation data showed significant biophysical effects with MUC13 modulation in on PanCa cells. The overexpression of MUC13 in Panc-1 cells led to an expected decrease in modulus, and a corresponding decrease in adhesion. With MUC13 knockdown, HPAF-II cells exhibited an increased modulus and adhesion. These results were confirmed with altered cell-cell adhesion as seen with aggregation assays.

Conclusions

MUC13 led to significant biophysical changes in PanCa cells and which exhibited characteristic phenotypic changes in cells demonstrated in previous work from our lab. This work gives insight into the use of biophysical measurements that could be used to help diagnose or monitor cancers as well as determine the effects of genetic alterations at a mechanical level.

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Massey, A. E., Doxtater, K. A., Yallapu, M. M., & Chauhan, S. C. (2020). Biophysical changes caused by altered MUC13 expression in pancreatic cancer cells. Micron (Oxford, England : 1993), 130, 102822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micron.2019.102822

Publication Title

Micron (Oxford, England : 1993)

DOI

10.1016/j.micron.2019.102822

Academic Level

faculty

Mentor/PI Department

Immunology and Microbiology