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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1538335
This article is part of the Research Topic Novel Molecular Targets in Cancer Therapy View all 18 articles
Expression of SMURF family in pancreatic cancer and its effect on cell proliferation and migration
Provisionally accepted
Lin Shi 1,2*
Chen Zhang 1 Caoyi Li 1 Yuan Wang 1 Ke Huang 1 Xu Yang 1 Sai Zhao 1
Haoran Zhu 3 Jian Wang 1,4*- 1 Second Affiliated Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
- 2 Cancer Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 3 Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China
- 4 First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
Objective: This study aims to evaluate the expression of Smad ubiquitination regulatory factors (SMURFs) in pancreatic cancer and analyze their relationship with cancer staging and prognosis, and to investigate the potential of SMURF as a therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.Methods: A total of 179 patients with pancreatic cancer were identified in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. This dataset was utilized in the study to analyze the expression of SMURF1 and SMURF2 and their correlation with pancreatic cancer staging and patient survival. In vitro assays including CCK-8, EdU, colony formation, and wound-healing were employed to elucidate the function of SMURF1 in the proliferation and migration of pancreatic cancer cells.Results: High expression of SMURF1 showed a significant positive correlation with T staging, histological and pathological grades, as well as clinical treatment outcomes of pancreatic cancer (P<0.050). Meanwhile, high expression of SMURF2 indicated a positive correlation with the histological grade of pancreatic cancer (P<0.050). However, high expression of SMURF1 was negatively correlated with overall survival (OS) and progression-free interval (PFI) (P<0.050). High expression of SMURF2 was negatively correlated with PFI (P<0.050). Inhibition of SMURF1
Keywords: Pancreatic Cancer, Smurf, prognosis, proliferation, Migration
Received: 02 Dec 2024; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Zhang, Li, Wang, Huang, Yang, Zhao, Zhu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lin Shi, Second Affiliated Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
Jian Wang, Second Affiliated Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.