Integrin alpha-V drives pancreatic adenocarcinoma progression due to activation of TGF-β

In a previous study by our group, it could be shown that peritoneal selectins mediate the peritoneal spread of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). In the absence of selectins, Integrin alpha-V (ITGAV) is upregulated in the remaining tumor spots. To study the relevance of ITGAV for PDA’s progression, a knockdown of ITGAV was generated using a shRNA-mediated approach in two PDA cell lines. Human PDA cells (cell lines BxPC3 and PaCa 5061) with (ITGAV) and without (LUC) shRNA mediated ITGAV knockdown were transplanted subcutaneously into mice. Total RNA was prepared from subcutaneous tumors.