SERPINB3 induces the aggressive basal-like/squamous subtype and promotes invasion and metastasis in pancreatic cancer I

Pancreatic cancer is a heterogenous disease and consists of distinct subtypes. Here, we searched for candidate driver genes of the basal-like/squamous subtype, a more aggressive molecular subtype of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Through an integrated transcriptome analysis, we identified the serine/cysteine protease inhibitor, SERPINB3 (squamous cell carcinoma antigen 1, SCCA1), as being upregulated in the basal-like/squamous PDAC using a discovery and validation approach. SERPINB3 upregulation associated with decreased patient survival and a transcriptome profile indicative of the basal-like/squamous subtype. The goal of this study was aimed to identify SERPINB3 induced molecular signatures in PDAC. Overall design: RNA was isolated from PDAC xenografts (n = 6 AsPC-1_SB3 and n = 6 AsPC-1_control) using the RNeasy Plus Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Venlo, Netherlands). The mRNA profiles of the above PDAC xenografts were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina NovaSeq 6000 SP.