ALDH1A3 mediates an AP-1-dependent enhancer network promoting pancreatic malignancy

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most malignant tumors, with a 5-year survival rate less than 10%. This may be largely attributed to the fact that PDAC is a complex, heterogenic disease with extensive variations in genetic, transcriptional and histological profiles. Using a reverse-translational approach, we previously defined a highly aggressive PDAC subtype labeled by ALDH1A3 (aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A3). Further studies illustrated that there was a molecular network containing 8 genes, playing an important role on this PDAC subtype with aggressive tumour biology. In the present study, we aim to investigate the regulatory mechanism of ALDH1A3 in this molecular network mediating the aggressive subtype of pancreatic cancer.