TY - JOUR AB - Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant type of cancer and its treatment remains a major challenge. The novel recombinant protein TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-Mu3 has been shown to exert stronger tumor inhibitory effects in colon cancer in vitro and in vivo compared with TRAIL. The present study investigated the antitumor effects of TRAIL-Mu3 on pancreatic cancer cells, and the possible mechanisms were further examined. Compared with TRAIL, TRAIL-Mu3 exhibited significantly higher cytotoxic effects on pancreatic cancer cell lines. The inhibitory effect of TRAIL-Mu3 on the viability of PANC-1 cells was shown to be a caspase-dependent process. The affinity of TRAIL-Mu3 to PANC-1 cell membranes was significantly enhanced compared with TRAIL. In addition, TRAIL-Mu3 upregulated death receptor (DR) expression in PANC-1 cells and promoted the redistribution of DR5 in lipid rafts. Western blotting results demonstrated that TRAIL-Mu3 activated the caspase cascade in a faster and more efficient manner compared with TRAIL in PANC-1 cells. Therefore, TRAIL-Mu3 enhanced the antitumor effects in pancreatic cancer cells by strengthening the apoptotic signaling pathway. The present study indicated the potential of TRAIL-Mu3 for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. AD - Department of Physiology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China Department of Medical Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China Chengdu Huachuang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China Department of Neurology, The First People's Hospital of Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China Department of Pathophysiology, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, P.R. China AU - Huang,Min AU - Yi,Cheng AU - Huang,Xian-Zhou AU - Yan,Juan AU - Wei,Li-Jia AU - Tang,Wei-Ju AU - Chen,Shou-Chun AU - Huang,Ying DA - 2021/06/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2021.12699 IS - 6 JO - Oncol Lett KW - tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) TRAIL-Mu3 death receptor apoptosis pancreatic cancer PY - 2021 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 438 ST - Recombinant protein TRAIL-Mu3 enhances the antitumor effects in pancreatic cancer cells by strengthening the apoptotic signaling pathway T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Recombinant protein TRAIL-Mu3 enhances the antitumor effects in pancreatic cancer cells by strengthening the apoptotic signaling pathway UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12699 VL - 21 ER -