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.
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.
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.