Purpose: The study aimed to investigate the correlations of the expression of membrane-organizing extension spike protein (moesin) with the pathological stage, nerve infiltration, tumor location and pain severity in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) and analyze its possible mechanism.
Methods: A total of 43 patients with pancreatic cancer receiving surgical resection in our hospital were enrolled, with the adjacent tissues as controls. Then, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blotting were carried out to measure the expression level of the moesin messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in PC tissues. The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 (IL-10) in PC tissues were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The relationship between moesin and the pathological stage of patients was analyzed, followed by further analyses on the correlations of moesin with nerve infiltration, tumor location and pain severity of patients with PC.
Results: The results of qPCR and Western blotting demonstrated that the expression levels of the moesin mRNA and moesin in PC tissues were evidently higher than those in adjacent tissues (p<0.01). Based on ELISA, the expression levels of MMP-7, TNF-α and IL-6 (p<0.01) were significantly higher, while the expression level of IL-10 (p<0.01) was obviously lower in PC tissues compared with those in adjacent tissues. The expression of moesin was closely associated with the pathological stage of patients with PC (p<0.01). The expression level of moesin in PC tissues in patients with nerve infiltration was significantly higher than that of those without nerve infiltration (p<0.01). It was distinctly elevated in PC tissues of patients with tumors located in the tail of the pancreas in comparison with those with tumors located in the head of the pancreas (p<0.01). The pain severity was correlated with the expression level of moesin in PC tissues (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Moesin affects the progression of PC by activating MMP-7 and further promoting the release of TNF-α and IL-6 and decreasing the level of IL-10. The expression of moesin in PC tissues has close relations with the pathological stage of the disease, nerve infiltration, tumor location and pain severity.