Neuroplastic changes occur early in the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Perineural tumor invasion of intrapancreatic nerves, neurogenic inflammation, and tumor metastases along extrapancreatic nerves are key features of pancreatic malignancies. Animal studies show that chronic pancreatic inflammation produces hypertrophy and hypersensitivity of pancreatic afferents and that sensory fibers may themselves drive inflammation via neurogenic mechanisms. Although genetic mutations are required for cancer development, inflammation has been shown to be a precipitating event that can accelerate the transition of precancerous lesions to cancer. These observations led us to hypothesize that inflammation that accompanies early phases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) would produce pathologic changes in pancreatic neurons and innervation. Using a lineage-labeled genetically engineered mouse model of PDAC, we found that pancreatic neurotrophic factor mRNA expression and sensory innervation increased dramatically when only pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia were apparent. These changes correlated with pain-related decreases in exploratory behavior and increased expression of nociceptive genes in sensory ganglia. At later stages, cells of pancreatic origin could be found in the celiac and sensory ganglia along with metastases to the spinal cord. These results demonstrate that the nervous system participates in all stages of PDAC, including those that precede the appearance of cancer.
Authors' Affiliations: Departments of Neurobiology, Biostatistics, Pathology, and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Departments of Genomic Medicine and Cancer Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; and Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Rachelle E
RE
Stopczynski
Daniel P
DP
Normolle
Douglas J
DJ
Hartman
Haoqiang
H
Ying
Jennifer J
JJ
DeBerry
Klaus
K
Bielefeldt
Andrew D
AD
Rhim
Ronald A
RA
DePinho
Kathryn M
KM
Albers
Brian M
BM
Davis
D000818:Animals; D001338:Autonomic Fibers, Postganglionic / Q000473:pathology; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010179:Pancreas / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary*; D059467:Transcriptome
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor