Abstract

Aim: To characterise the protein expression profiles of pancreatic islet β-cells affected by cancer cells, and to identify the potential islet molecules related to pancreatic cancer-associated diabetes.

Methods: The cellular proteins of islet β-cell line INS-1 in response to conditioned medium (CM) prepared from pancreatic cancer cells were analysed using fluorescence-labelled 2D gel-based proteomics (2D-DIGE).

Results: 10 proteins were over-expressed and five were under-expressed in cancer CM-stimulated β-cells. Five differently expressed proteins were selected for further validation by Western blot analysis. HSP60 and peripherin, which have previously been reported to be associated with type 1 diabetes, and Prp19, a DNA repair protein, were up-regulated in INS-1 cells after cancer cell CM stimulation; HMOX1 and GRP78 were down-regulated. The islets adjacent to human pancreatic carcinomas showed increased peripherin expression than normal pancreatic islets.

Conclusion: These results provide new information regarding the regulation of protein expression in pancreatic cancer-associated diabetes.