Pim-3 contributes to radioresistance through regulation of the cell cycle and DNA damage repair in pancreatic cancer cells

• This is first study to demonstrate that Pim-3 is endogenously induced by ionizing radiation in pancreatic cancer cells, and Pim-3 overexpression enhanced radioresistance of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.
• This is first study to provide evidence that radioresistance induced by Pim-3 is mainly attributed to Pim-3 induces activation of ATM, which subsequently activates checkpoint 1, leading to amplification of DNA repair through cell cycle arrest and DNA repair pathways.
• This is first study to indicate that targeting Pim-3 may be a promising strategy to provide better treatment efficacy in combination with radiotherapy in human pancreatic cancer.

Resistance of cancer cells to chemoradiotherapy is a major clinical problem in pancreatic cancer treatment. Therefore, understanding the molecular basis of cellular resistance and identifying novel targets are essential for improving treatment efficacy for pancreatic cancer patients. Previous studies have demonstrated a significant role for Pim-3 in pancreatic cancer survival against gemcitabine-induced genotoxic stress. Here, we observed that radiation treatment enhanced Pim-3 expression in human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. Stable overexpression of Pim-3 in pancreatic cancer cells significantly protected cells against radiation treatment by attenuating G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and DNA damage response. Silencing of Pim-3 expression significantly elevated the phosphorylation of histone variant H2AX, a marker of DNA double strand breaks, and decreased the activation of ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) kinase, along with its downstream targets, eventually enhancing the radiosensitivity of human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Hence, we demonstrated a novel function for Pim-3 in human pancreatic cancer cell survival against radiation. Targeting Pim-3 may be a promising way to improve treatment efficacy in combination with radiotherapy in human pancreatic cancer.