<b>Materials & methods:</b> This work successfully designs and evaluates GPC1-targeted, gemcitabine (GEM)-loaded multifunctional gold nanocarrier for near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF)/MRI and targeted chemotherapy against pancreatic cancer <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>.
GPC1(+) crExos may serve as a potential non-invasive diagnostic and screening tool to detect early stages of pancreatic cancer to facilitate possible curative surgical therapy.
In view of the importance of members of the TGF-beta family in pancreatic cancer, in the present study, the role of GPC1 in TGF-beta, BMP and activin signaling was analyzed.
It was reported that glypican-1 is strongly expressed in human pancreatic cancer, and that it may play an essential role in regulating growth-factor responsiveness in pancreatic carcinoma cells.