Inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway induces autophagy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells

Xu,Yonghua; An,Yong; Wang,Xuehao; Zha,Wenzhang; Li,Xiangcheng

doi:10.3892/or.2013.2881

Inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway induces autophagy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells

Authors:
- Yonghua Xu
- Yong An
- Xuehao Wang
- Wenzhang Zha
- Xiangcheng Li
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Affiliations: Department of General Surgery, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, The First People's Hospital of Yancheng, Yancheng, Jiangsu, P.R. China, Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Changzhou, Changzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China, Liver Transplantation Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P.R. China
Published online on: November 28, 2013 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2013.2881
Pages: 707-712

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Abstract

The HH signaling pathway is a ‘core’ signal transduction pathway in pancreatic cancer that promotes the tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancers via enhancing cell proliferation, increasing invasion and metastasis and protecting against apoptosis. In the present study, we found that HH signaling regulates autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells. Activation of HH signaling inhibits autophagy, while inhibition of the HH pathway induces autophagy. Although the role of autophagy in cell survival and apoptosis may depend on tumor type and the microenvironment, our data clearly demonstrated that GANT61-induced autophagy contributed to reduced viability and increased apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells both in vivo and in vitro, and these effects were reversed by the autophagy inhibitor, 3-MA. We propose that HH signaling by regulating autophagy plays an important role in determining the cellular response to HH-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer and further investigation of the interaction between autophagy and HH signaling is particularly important.

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