title: DEK protein overexpression predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: DEK, a transcription factor, is involved in mRNA splicing, transcriptional control, cell division and differentiation. Recent studies suggest that DEK overexpression can promote tumorigenesis in a wide range of cancer cell types. However, little is known concerning the status of DEK in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Based on the microarray data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), the expression levels of DEK mRNA in PDAC tissues were significantly higher than levels in the adjacent non-tumor tissues. To explore the clinical features of DEK overexpression in PDAC, 87 PDAC and 52 normal pancreas tissues were selected for immunoenzyme staining of the DEK protein. Localization of the DEK protein was detected in PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells using immunofluorescence (IF) staining. The correlations between DEK overexpression and the clinical features of PDAC were evaluated using the Chi-squared (χ2) and Fisher's exact tests. The survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and the relationship between prognostic factors and patient survival was also analyzed by the Cox proportional hazard models. The expression levels of DEK mRNA in PDAC tissues were significantly higher than that in the adjacent non‑tumor tissues. The DEK protein showed a primarily nuclear staining pattern in PDAC. The positive rate of the DEK protein was 52.9% (46/87) in PDAC, which was significantly higher than that in the adjacent normal pancreatic tissues (7.7%, 4/52). DEK overexpression in PDAC was correlated with tumor size, histological grade, tumor‑node‑metastasis (TNM) stage and overall survival (OS) rates. In addition, multivariate analysis demonstrated that DEK overexpression was an independent prognostic factor along with histological grade and TNM stage in patients with PDAC. In conclusion, DEK overexpression is associated with PDAC progression and may be a potential biomarker for poor prognostic evaluation in PDAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fangfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yanbian University Hospital, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yanbian University Hospital, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinzi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cancer Research Center, Yanbian University Medical College, Yanji, Jilin 133002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; C084738:DEK protein, human; D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins