Abstract 2883: Genetic ablation of Smoothened in tumor-associated fibroblasts promotes pancreatic tumorigenesis
Authors: Pitarresi Jason R. , Wu Jinghai , Liu Xin , Bravo Veronica , Cuitiño Maria C. , Kladney Raleigh D. , Woelke Sarah , Majumder Sarmila , Leone Gustavo , Ostrowski Michael C. 
Published: August 2015

Purpose of Study

Pancreatic cancer is an overwhelming fatal disease with less than 5% of patients surviving beyond 5 years. The most prominent histopathological hallmark of pancreatic cancer is its uniquely dense stromal reaction as evidenced by recent reports that highlight the significant role of stromal fibroblasts on pancreatic tumor cell biology. We used novel mouse models to show that genetic inactivation of Smoothened (Smo) in stromal fibroblasts accelerated Kras-initiated tumorigenesis.

Research Method

We used a genetically engineered mouse model of pancreatic cancer that relies on constitutive activation of the Kras oncogene in the epithelium. We simultaneously employed cre-loxP technology to conditionally delete Smo exclusively in the fibroblast compartment of the pancreas, thus disrupting the crucial hedgehog paracrine signaling loop between pancreatic tumor cells and fibroblasts.

Novel Findings

We showed that deletion of Smo in stromal fibroblasts accelerated pancreatic tumorigenesis through a mechanism involving destabilization of fibroblast PTEN protein. An unbiased genetic screen revealed the ubiquitin E2 conjugating enzyme UBE2K as a PTEN destabilizer and knockdown of UBE2K blocked the degradation of PTEN protein. Down-regulation of PTEN enhanced TGF-α production in stromal fibroblasts, and increased epithelial cell transformation and proliferation through epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR). A selective SMO inhibitor also decreased PTEN in a Kras mouse model as well as in human primary pancreatic cancer associated fibroblasts. Importantly, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patient samples, low PTEN expression correlated with low SMO expression and with reduced overall survival. These results define a pathway that reprograms stromal fibroblasts from a tumor suppressive phenotype to a tumor promoting phenotype, thus highlighting the dual functions of stromal fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer and the molecular consequences of loss of the hedgehog pathway. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of tumor-stroma interactions is required to assure effective implementation of targeted therapies.

Conclusions & Implications

Recent pre-clinical reports suggest the pancreatic tumor microenvironment functions predominantly to inhibit tumor growth, challenging the concept of tumor stroma as a therapeutic target. Our results provide molecular insight into how the balance between the opposing activities of tumor stromal fibroblasts is maintained, and potentially identifies targets for restoring stromal tumor suppressive functions. In summary, we demonstrate that ablation of paracrine hedgehog signaling in SMA-positive fibroblasts leads to proteasome-mediated degradation of the PTEN tumor suppressor protein and subsequent activation of oncogenic pathways.

Citation Format: Jason R. Pitarresi, Jinghai Wu, Xin Liu, Veronica Bravo, Maria C. Cuitiño, Raleigh D. Kladney, Sarah Woelke, Sarmila Majumder, Gustavo Leone, Michael C. Ostrowski. Genetic ablation of Smoothened in tumor-associated fibroblasts promotes pancreatic tumorigenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2883. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2883