Effective MUC4 gene knockdown in PC may contribute to the elucidation of pancreatic tumor development and metastasis, and may be valuable in new therapeutic approaches.
MUC4, a transmembrane mucin is overexpressed in pancreatic tumors, while remaining undetectable in the normal pancreas, thus indicating a potential role in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis.
Most interestingly, in vivo studies showed that miR-219-1-3p injection in xenografted pancreatic tumors in mice decreased both tumor growth and MUC4 mucin expression.
Moreover, the CS-exposed mice had elevated levels of serum cotinine (low dose, 155.88±35.96 ng/ml; high dose, 216.25±29.95 ng/ml) and increased MUC4, α7nAChR and pSTAT3 expression in the pancreatic tumor tissues.