ALDH1A3 regulates invasion ability of pancreatic cancer cells

Objective To detect the expression level of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A3 (ALDH1A3) in pancreatic cancer and adjacent tissues, and to study its specific mechanism involved in the regulation of invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Methods The ALDH family expression pattern in pancreatic cancer patients and normal pancreatic tissues was analyzed using the gene expression profile matrix of the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) database, the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx). Transwell assay was used to detect the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells with silencing of ALDH1A3. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was employed to further explore the relationship between ALDH1A3 and activation of JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway. Results The expression level of ALDH1A3 was significantly higher in pancreatic cancer tissues than adjacent normal tissues, and it was of the highest level when compared with the other subtypes in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Down-regulation of ALDH1A3 resulted in the decreased invasion ability of pancreatic cancer cell lines. JAK/STAT3 pathway was significantly enriched in the pancreatic cancer patients with higher expression of ALDH1A3. The silencing of ALDH1A3 induced the decrease of phospho-STAT3. Conclusion ALDH1A3 may be involved in the regulation of pancreatic cancer cell invasion through the JAK/STAT3 pathway