The expression and clinical prognostic value of protein phosphatase 1 catalytic subunit beta in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PAAD) is a common malignancy with a poor survival rate. The identification of novel biomarkers could improve clinical outcomes for patients with PAAD. Here we evaluated the expression and clinical significance of <i>PPP1CB</i> in PAAD. <i>PPP1CB</i> expression was higher in PAAD tissue than in matched paracancerous tissue (<i>P &lt; 0.05</i>). We predicted a network of regulatory targets and protein interaction partners of <i>PPP1CB</i>, and identified a PPI network consisting of 39 node genes. The expression of 33 node genes was higher in PAAD tissue than in matching paracancerous tissue. High expression of the node genes <i>ACTN4, ANLN, CLTB, IQGAP1, SPTAN1</i>, and <i>TMOD3</i> was associated with improved overall survival (<i>P &lt; 0.05</i>). SiRNA knockdown of <i>PPP1CB</i> significantly reduced the migration and invasion of PAAD cells. A <i>PPP1CB</i> immunohistochemical staining was performed using a tissue microarray (TMA), consisting of tumor samples collected from 91 patients with PAAD (88 of which contained matched paracancerous tissues). The expression of <i>PPP1CB</i> in PAAD was significantly higher than in the matched paracancerous tissue, (<i>P = 0.016</i>). High <i>PPP1CB</i> expression was associated with patient sex (<i>P = 0.048</i>), alcohol use (<i>P = 0.039</i>), CEA <b>(</b><i>P<b>= 0.038</b></i>), N stage <b>(</b><i>P = 0.001</i>), and invasion of nerve (<i>P = 0.036</i>). Furthermore, high <i>PPP1CB</i> expression was associated with significantly poorer overall survival (<i>P = 0.022</i>). Our data demonstrate that <i>PPP1CB</i> is associated with the migration and invasion of PAAD cells, and may be useful as an independent prognostic indicator for clinical outcome in patients with PAAD.