title: Curcumin suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting cancer-associated fibroblasts.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, because of its aggressive and highly metastatic ability even in its early stages. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have been reported to be vital to pancreatic cancer progression via regulating tumorigenesis and metastasis. Studies have shown that CAFs also mediate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in tumor cells. Curcumin has recently been reported to have anticancer effects by modulating pathways involved in cancer progression. Therefore, we hypothesized that curcumin might inhibit EMT by targeting CAFs in pancreatic cancer. In this study, we show that the CAF-mediated enhancement of pancreatic cancer cell migration and metastasis was blocked by curcumin. In conclusion, our data provide the first evidence that curcumin inhibits the migration and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells by reducing the mesenchymal characteristics of CAFs, which reverses the EMT phenotypes of pancreatic cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Oncology, Jing'an District Center Hospital of Shanghai (Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Jing'an Branch)259 Xikang Road, Shanghai 200040, China; Department of Oncology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer CenterShanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Oncology, Jing'an District Center Hospital of Shanghai (Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Jing'an Branch)259 Xikang Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer CenterShanghai, China.
authors.forename: Lianyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer CenterShanghai, China.
authors.forename: Luming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Oncology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University12 Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Oncology, Jing'an District Center Hospital of Shanghai (Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Jing'an Branch)259 Xikang Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Xueyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer CenterShanghai, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan UniversityShanghai, China; Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer CenterShanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
keywords: Pancreatic cancer; cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs); curcumin; epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); metastatic