Open Access

Cancer‑associated adipocytes exhibit distinct phenotypes and facilitate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer

  • Authors:
    • Zhiwei Cai
    • Yun Liang
    • Chun Xing
    • Hongwei Wang
    • Pengfei Hu
    • Jialin Li
    • Haiyan Huang
    • Wei Wang
    • Chongyi Jiang
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: October 10, 2019     https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7365
  • Pages: 2537-2549
  • Copyright: © Cai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Adipocyte infiltration in pancreatic cancer (PC) has been demonstrated to be independently associated with PC risk and an active contributor to tumor progression. However, to date, little is known about these unique pancreatic tumor‑surrounding adipocytes, or their response to cancer cells. The present study utilized an in vitro indirect coculture model in which the phenotypic changes of adipocytes following exposure to PC cells were directly observed. RNA‑sequencing was performed on 3T3‑L1 adipocytes cultured with or without Panc‑1 cancer cells, and significant changes were identified at the transcriptional level. In terms of delipidation and the impaired function of glucose and lipid metabolism, coculture with tumor cells resulted in an altered metabolic phenotype in mature adipocytes. In co‑cultured adipocytes, the appearance of fibroblast‑like cells was observed, and the mesenchymal cell differentiation pathway was enriched following the integrated analysis into the transcriptome. In addition, reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR analyses of co‑cultured adipocytes revealed a loss in gene expression of mature adipocyte markers, and a gain in gene expression of fibroblast‑specific markers. It was also confirmed that newly generated cancer‑associated adipocytes could facilitate the invasive capacities of the tumor, and may contribute to PC stromal remodeling. The present study supports a novel concept that reprogramming of stromal adipocytes orchestrated by PC cells may generate cancer‑associated adipocytes with activated phenotypes, which may ultimately drive pancreatic tumor progression.
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December-2019
Volume 42 Issue 6

Print ISSN: 1021-335X
Online ISSN:1791-2431

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Spandidos Publications style
Cai Z, Liang Y, Xing C, Wang H, Hu P, Li J, Huang H, Wang W and Jiang C: Cancer‑associated adipocytes exhibit distinct phenotypes and facilitate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer. Oncol Rep 42: 2537-2549, 2019
APA
Cai, Z., Liang, Y., Xing, C., Wang, H., Hu, P., Li, J. ... Jiang, C. (2019). Cancer‑associated adipocytes exhibit distinct phenotypes and facilitate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer. Oncology Reports, 42, 2537-2549. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7365
MLA
Cai, Z., Liang, Y., Xing, C., Wang, H., Hu, P., Li, J., Huang, H., Wang, W., Jiang, C."Cancer‑associated adipocytes exhibit distinct phenotypes and facilitate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer". Oncology Reports 42.6 (2019): 2537-2549.
Chicago
Cai, Z., Liang, Y., Xing, C., Wang, H., Hu, P., Li, J., Huang, H., Wang, W., Jiang, C."Cancer‑associated adipocytes exhibit distinct phenotypes and facilitate tumor progression in pancreatic cancer". Oncology Reports 42, no. 6 (2019): 2537-2549. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2019.7365