Discovered a molecule that helps pancreatic cells mature and limits the development of tumors

2023-07-21 10:11:24

The pancreas, located behind the stomach, manages our body’s energy supply. It does so by secreting the proteins (enzymes) responsible for glucose, the body’s main fuel, reaching other organs. at the time and quantity needed. These proteins are generated in the so-called acinar cellswhich make up 85% of the pancreas and whose precise function is still under investigation.

A team led by Francisco X. Realhead of the Epithelial Carcinogenesis Group of the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), has found a new element related to the function of the acinar cells and the processes involved in the formation of tumors in the pancreas. His work is published in Nature Communicationswith the CNIO researcher Isidoro Cobo as first author.

Researchers have discovered that a molecule called NFIC It is key to the proper functioning of the acinar cells. This finding will help to understand what happens when normal processes fail and cancer or other lesions result.

The NFIC molecule plays an important role in the functioning of the acinar cells, which make up 85% of the pancreas.

“Acinar cells are great protein factories,” Real explains. “In our laboratory we are interested in knowing how they work, because when their function is disturbed, the progress of the tumor. The discovery of the role of NFIC represents a further step in the knowledge of how pancreatic cells avoid alternative mechanisms to its normal operationwhich may favor the development of cancer.

A function unknown until now

Until now it was known that NFIC participates in the tooth formation and in the changes typical of lactation in the mammary glandsand also restricts the activation of some genes that can cause certain breast tumors, but it was not known to have a function in the pancreas. This work has specified its role for the acinar cells to function properly, at full capacity.

When the function of the acinar cells is disturbed, tumor development is favored

“The most important thing is that NFIC belongs to a family of proteins that had not been involved until now in the physiology of the pancreas”, emphasizes Real.

In the publication they explain that, if NFIC is deactivated, the acinar cells they don’t mature properlyand the pancreas responds less well to damage and becomes more prone to initiate tumor formation.

Pancreatic cancer is the third type of cancer with higher mortality in Spain (The Spanish Society of Medical Oncology registered 7,663 deaths in 2021). With rapid development and a high probability of metastasis, its usual treatment is surgery.

Reference:

Cobo, I. et al. “NFIC regulates ribosomal biology and ER stress in pancreatic acinar cells and restrains PDAC initiation” Nature Communications (2023)

Rights: Creative Commons.