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Cdc7 is a potent anti-cancer target in pancreatic cancer due to abrogation of the DNA origin activation checkpoint.

Huggett, MT; Tudzarova, S; Proctor, I; Loddo, M; Keane, MG; Stoeber, K; Williams, GH; (2016) Cdc7 is a potent anti-cancer target in pancreatic cancer due to abrogation of the DNA origin activation checkpoint. Oncotarget , 7 (14) pp. 18495-18507. 10.18632/oncotarget.7611. Green open access

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Abstract

PURPOSE: Cdc7 is a serine/threonine kinase which is responsible for the 'firing' of replication origins leading to initiation of DNA replication. Inhibition or depletion of Cdc7 in normal cells triggers a DNA origin activation checkpoint causing a reversible G1 arrest. Here we investigate Cdc7 as a novel therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Cdc7 target validation was performed by immunoexpression profiling in a cohort of 73 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma including 24 controls. Secondly Cdc7 kinase was targeted in Capan-1 and PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cell line models using either an siRNA against Cdc7 or alternatively a small molecule inhibitor (SMI) of Cdc7 (PHA-767491). RESULTS: Cdc7 was significantly overexpressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared to benign pancreatic tissue (median LI 34.3% vs. 1.3%; P<0.0001). Cdc7 knockdown using siRNA in Capan-1 and PANC-1 cells resulted in marked apoptotic cell death when compared with control cells. A prominent sub-G1 peak was seen on flow cytometry (sub-G1 51% vs. 3% and 45% vs. 0.7% in Capan-1 and PANC-1 cells, respectively). Annexin V labelling confirmed apoptosis in 64% vs. 11% and 75% vs. 8%, respectively. Western blotting showed cleavage of PARP-1 and caspase-3 and presence of γH2A.X. TUNEL assay showed strong staining in treated cells. These results were mirrored following Cdc7 kinase inhibition with PHA-767491. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that Cdc7 is a potent anti-cancer target in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and that Cdc7 immunoexpression levels might be used as a companion diagnostic to predict response to therapeutic siRNAs or SMIs directed against this kinase.

Type: Article
Title: Cdc7 is a potent anti-cancer target in pancreatic cancer due to abrogation of the DNA origin activation checkpoint.
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.7611
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.7611
Language: English
Additional information: This article is made available under a under the C Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their article, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles in Oncotarget journal, so long as the original authors and source are cited. For further information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Keywords: Cdc7, DNA replication, cell cycle, pancreatic cancer
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inst for Liver and Digestive Hlth
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1477299
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