The role of S100P in the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells is mediated through cytoskeletal changes and regulation of cathepsin D.

Up-regulation of S100P, a member of the S100 calcium-binding protein family, is an early molecular event in the development of pancreatic cancer and it is expressed at high levels in both precursor lesions and invasive cancer. To gain more insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the functional roles of this protein, we stably overexpressed S100P in the Panc1 pancreatic cancer cell line and identified the consequent changes in global protein expression by two-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis. The observed changes in target proteins were confirmed by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence, whereas their functional effect was investigated using motility and invasion assays.

Peanut-like 1 (septin 5) gene expression in normal and neoplastic human endocrine pancreas.

Peanut-like 1 (PNUTL1) is a septin gene which is expressed at high levels in human brain. There it plays a role in the process of membrane fusion during exocytosis by interacting with syntaxin and synaptophysin. As the secretory apparatus of pancreatic islet cells closely resembles that of neurons, we decided to study the expression of PNUTL1 in the human endocrine pancreas, both in normal islets and in pancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs).

Expression of S100P and its novel binding partner S100PBPR in early pancreatic cancer.

S100P is a member of the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins and there have been several recent reports of its overexpression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We have used Far Western screening and in vitro interaction assays to identify and confirm a novel target protein for S100P. We have named this protein S100PBPR, and shown that its interaction with S100P is dependent on Ca(2+) or Mg(2+).