Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant tumor with an extremely poor prognosis, but early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. This study aimed to screen autophagy-related exosome genes associated with poor prognosis in PC and to explore the underlying mechanism...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lunbing Liang, Pengcheng Guo, Mingming Xiao, Fuqiang Zu, Guoliang Hao, Chaochun Zhang, Qingfeng Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-07-01
Series:Discover Oncology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-03061-6
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849334608338878464
author Lunbing Liang
Pengcheng Guo
Mingming Xiao
Fuqiang Zu
Guoliang Hao
Chaochun Zhang
Qingfeng Liu
author_facet Lunbing Liang
Pengcheng Guo
Mingming Xiao
Fuqiang Zu
Guoliang Hao
Chaochun Zhang
Qingfeng Liu
author_sort Lunbing Liang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant tumor with an extremely poor prognosis, but early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. This study aimed to screen autophagy-related exosome genes associated with poor prognosis in PC and to explore the underlying mechanisms in malignant progression via bioinformatics analysis to provide a reference for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis evaluation of PC, especially pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Matrix files of 178 PC tissues (including 143 PDAC) and 167 healthy human pancreatic tissues and clinical data were downloaded from the UCSC Xena database, exosome database (exoRbase) and autophagy database (HADb), and the relevant mechanisms were explored by bioinformatics methods, including differential analysis, LASSO regression analysis, survival analysis, functional analysis, immune infiltration analysis and drug sensitivity analysis. Finally, the expression of related genes in PDAC was verified via immunohistochemistry. Our research results indicate that the autophagy-related exosome genes PTK6, ITGA3 and ITGB4 are independent risk factors for PC and may promote PC development and invasion by promoting cell–cell adhesion and cell–matrix adhesion, inhibiting tumor cell autophagy, promoting nerve infiltration, reducing CD8 + T-cell content, and increasing M0 and M2 macrophage content. Drug susceptibility analysis showed that crizotinib, tamoxifen, ixazomib, and carboplatin had inhibitory effects on ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6.
format Article
id doaj-art-53ba84969ac246da83c6cd22cb14d7f3
institution Kabale University
issn 2730-6011
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Springer
record_format Article
series Discover Oncology
spelling doaj-art-53ba84969ac246da83c6cd22cb14d7f32025-08-20T03:45:31ZengSpringerDiscover Oncology2730-60112025-07-0116112010.1007/s12672-025-03061-6Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomaLunbing Liang0Pengcheng Guo1Mingming Xiao2Fuqiang Zu3Guoliang Hao4Chaochun Zhang5Qingfeng Liu6General Surgery, People’s Hospital of Liaoning Province, China Medical UniversityGeneral Surgery, People’s Hospital of Liaoning Province, Dalian Medical UniversityThe Pathology Department, People’s Hospital of Liaoning ProvinceDepartment of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui Medical UniversityGeneral Surgery, People’s Hospital of Liaoning Province, China Medical UniversityGeneral Surgery, People’s Hospital of Liaoning Province, China Medical UniversityGeneral Surgery, JinQiu Hospital of LiaoNing ProvinceAbstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant tumor with an extremely poor prognosis, but early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. This study aimed to screen autophagy-related exosome genes associated with poor prognosis in PC and to explore the underlying mechanisms in malignant progression via bioinformatics analysis to provide a reference for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis evaluation of PC, especially pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Matrix files of 178 PC tissues (including 143 PDAC) and 167 healthy human pancreatic tissues and clinical data were downloaded from the UCSC Xena database, exosome database (exoRbase) and autophagy database (HADb), and the relevant mechanisms were explored by bioinformatics methods, including differential analysis, LASSO regression analysis, survival analysis, functional analysis, immune infiltration analysis and drug sensitivity analysis. Finally, the expression of related genes in PDAC was verified via immunohistochemistry. Our research results indicate that the autophagy-related exosome genes PTK6, ITGA3 and ITGB4 are independent risk factors for PC and may promote PC development and invasion by promoting cell–cell adhesion and cell–matrix adhesion, inhibiting tumor cell autophagy, promoting nerve infiltration, reducing CD8 + T-cell content, and increasing M0 and M2 macrophage content. Drug susceptibility analysis showed that crizotinib, tamoxifen, ixazomib, and carboplatin had inhibitory effects on ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-03061-6Pancreatic cancerExosomesAutophagyIntegrins α3Integrin β4Protein tyrosine kinase 6
spellingShingle Lunbing Liang
Pengcheng Guo
Mingming Xiao
Fuqiang Zu
Guoliang Hao
Chaochun Zhang
Qingfeng Liu
Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Discover Oncology
Pancreatic cancer
Exosomes
Autophagy
Integrins α3
Integrin β4
Protein tyrosine kinase 6
title Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
title_full Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
title_fullStr Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
title_full_unstemmed Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
title_short Prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy-related exosome genes ITGA3, ITGB4, and PTK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
title_sort prognostic analysis and mechanistic exploration of the autophagy related exosome genes itga3 itgb4 and ptk6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
topic Pancreatic cancer
Exosomes
Autophagy
Integrins α3
Integrin β4
Protein tyrosine kinase 6
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-03061-6
work_keys_str_mv AT lunbingliang prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT pengchengguo prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT mingmingxiao prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT fuqiangzu prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT guolianghao prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT chaochunzhang prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma
AT qingfengliu prognosticanalysisandmechanisticexplorationoftheautophagyrelatedexosomegenesitga3itgb4andptk6inpancreaticductaladenocarcinoma