Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37198667›Full record

ArticleCancer cell international2023

Blockage of retinoic acid signaling via RARγ suppressed the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells by arresting the cell cycle progression of the G1-S phase.

Kohei Yamakawa, Michiyo Koyanagi-Aoi, Akihito Machinaga, Nobuyuki Kakiuchi, Tomonori Hirano, Yuzo Kodama, Takashi Aoi

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer cell international, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Retinoic acid in health and disease.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. The Influences of RARγ on the Behavior of Normal and Cancer Stem Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Deregulation of All-International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Review
  9. Targeting the Retinoic Acid Pathway to Eradicate Cancer Stem Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Review
  10. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Kohei YamakawaDivision of Stem Cell Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan.
Michiyo Koyanagi-AoiDivision of Stem Cell Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan.
Akihito MachinagaOncology Tsukuba Research Department, Discovery, Medicine Creation, DHBL, Eisai Co., Ltd, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Nobuyuki KakiuchiDepartment of Pathology and Tumour Biology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Tomonori HiranoDepartment of Pathology and Tumour Biology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Yuzo KodamaDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
Takashi AoiDivision of Stem Cell Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 650-0017, Japan. takaaoi@med.kobe-u.ac.jp.
Kobe University · JPKyoto University · JPEisai (Japan) · JPKobe University Hospital · JP

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 18H02796Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 20J12977Research Center Network for Realization of Regenerative Medicine 16817073
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOur study and several studies have reported that in some cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the expression of squamous lineage markers, such as esophagus-tissue-specific genes, correlated with a poor prognosis. However, the mechanism by which the acquisition of squamous lineage phenotypes leads to a poor prognosis remains unclear. We previously reported that retinoic acid signaling via retinoic acid receptor γ (RARγ signaling) determines the differentiation lineage into the esophageal squamous epithelium. These findings hypothesized that the activation of RARγ signaling contributed to acquiring squamous lineage phenotypes and malignant behavior in PDAC.

methodsThis study utilized public databases and immunostaining of surgical specimens to examine RARγ expression in PDAC. We evaluated the function of RARγ signaling by inhibitors and siRNA knockdown using a PDAC cell line and patient-derived PDAC organoids. The mechanism of the tumor-suppressive effects by blocking RARγ signaling was examined by a cell cycle analysis, apoptosis assays, RNA sequencing and Western blotting.

resultsRARγ expression in pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and PDAC was higher than that in the normal pancreatic duct. Its expression correlated with a poor patient prognosis in PDAC. In PDAC cell lines, blockade of RARγ signaling suppressed cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase without causing apoptosis. We demonstrated that blocking RARγ signaling upregulated p21 and p27 and downregulated many cell cycle genes, including cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), CDK4 and CDK6. Furthermore, using patient-derived PDAC organoids, we confirmed the tumor-suppressive effect of RARγ inhibition and indicated the synergistic effects of RARγ inhibition with gemcitabine.

conclusionsThis study clarified the function of RARγ signaling in PDAC progression and demonstrated the tumor-suppressive effect of selective blockade of RARγ signaling against PDAC. These results suggest that RARγ signaling might be a new therapeutic target for PDAC.

Indexed as

Cell cycleCell proliferationPancreatic ductal adenocarcinomaRetinoic acid receptor γRetinoic acid signaling

Identifiers

PMID37198667
PMCPMC10189913
OpenAlexW4377011118

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.