whereRU: Aresty Poster 15 - Nicotine in Pancreatic Cancer: Role of Osteopontin by Aresty Posters 2009

NICOTINE IN PANCREATIC CANCER: ROLE OF OSTEOPONTIN IN CANCER CELL SURVIVAL, MIGRATION, PROLIFERATION, AND INVASION
Tanya Gordonov (tanyag@eden.rutgers.edu ), Dana Cifelli, Hwyda Arafat, David Denhardt
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly lethal cancer whose likelihood to occur has been shown to increase with tobacco smoke exposure. The chemical nicotine, found in cigarettes, has been shown to increase cancer incidence and cancerous cell behavior. A molecule through which nicotine may influence such behavior is the protein osteopontin (OPN). OPN is a post-translationally modified secreted protein found in all body fluids of many organisms, including humans. It plays a role in normal body function, such as the immune response and bone remodeling. OPN has also been found to play a role in the progression of certain cancers and to contribute to the metastatic phenotype of cancer cells. The goal of this project is to study nicotine?s influence on OPN?s role in pancreatic cancer progression. Pancreatic cancer cells were created that under- and over-express the protein by means of plasmid transfection. The real-time polymerase chain reaction was then used to verify the amount of OPN mRNA in transfected versus non-transfected cells. Clones under- and over-expressing OPN will be used to study the effect of nicotine on cancer cell survival, migration, proliferation, and invasion with the hope of elucidating the link between nicotine and pancreatic cancer.