SP/NK-1R Axis Promotes Perineural Invasion of Pancreatic Cancer and is Affected by lncRNA LOC389641
Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease with low overall survival during the past 30 years. Perineural invasion (PNI) was considered to be the main reason for poor prognosis. In the present study, we analyzed the role of substance P (SP)/neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) LOC389641 on pancreatic cancer PNI. Material and methods Pancreatic cancer cell lines of BxPC-3 and MIAPaCa-2 were co-cultured with SHSY5Y cells, and then stimulated with SP to simulate the in vivo influence of pancreatic cancer by ganglion. The co-culture cells were transfected with overexpressed neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R), silenced NK-1R, overexpressed LOC389641, and silenced LOC389641. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay was performed to examine the concentration of SP in cells. The cell proliferation ability was assessed by cell counting kit-8 and 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) assays. The wound-healing and Transwell assays were carried out to determine the cell migration and invasion analyses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blot, immunofluorescence (IF) analyses were performed to evaluate the expression levels. Results Addition of SP in co-culture system positively regulates cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of pancreatic cancer PNI. SP significantly stimulated NK-1R/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway. The concentration of 100 nmol/L for 24h was chosen to be optimal for SP treatment.NK-1R positively regulated the proliferation, migration, and invasion of pancreatic cancer PNI. The expression of lncRNA LOC389641 and mRNA tumor necrosis factor receptor SF10A (TNFRSF10A) was not affected by SP. Overexpressed and silenced LOC389641 can correspondingly change the effect of SP stimulation on pancreatic cancer PNI. Conclusion We found that SP/NK-1R and LOC389641 promote the cell progression of pancreatic cancer PNI. Moreover, we assumed that the pancreatic cancer PNI promoted by SP/NK-1R axis may be blocked by the TNFRSF10A/NF-κB pathway mediated by LOC389641.