Down-regulation of stathmin is required for TGF-β inducible early gene 1 induced growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer cells

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) inducible early gene 1 (TIEG1) is known to induce apoptosis in TGF-β sensitive pancreatic cancer cells, yet its effect on TGF-β resistant cancer cells remains unclear. In this study, TIEG1 was found to induce apoptosis in TGF-β resistant cancer cells and concurrently enhanced gemcitabine chemosensitivity. Down-regulation of stathmin was noted to associate with TIEG1 expression, whilst ectopic overexpression of stathmin prevented TIEG1 mediated growth inhibition of tumor cells. Small interfering RNAs targeting stathmin inhibited pancreatic cancer cell growth. These suggest that stathmin is a downstream target of TIEG1.