Microarray-based gene expression profiling reveals genes and pathways involved in the oncogenic function of REG3A on pancreatic cancer cells

•We compare genetic profiles of the metastatic pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990 with two control cell lines.•We identify genes and pathways in SW1990 cells that are induced by treatment with REG3A or IL6.•We confirm eight genes and four pathways of REG3A on tumorigenesis in SW1990.•REG3A shares similar molecular mechanism with IL6.•Regulation network analysis uncovers three transcription factor families with immune functions regulated by REG3A.

We previously reported that regenerating islet-derived protein 3 alpha (REG3A) exacerbates pancreatic malignancies. The mechanism of this effect has not been clearly elucidated. Here we first identified key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and signal pathways in the pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990, compared to two control cell lines, by microarray analysis. We then identified key genes and pathways regulated by REG3A or the cytokine IL6 in SW1990 cells. Afterwards, these DEGs induced by REG3A or IL6 were subjected to KEGG pathway enrichment analysis and GO function analysis by the DAVID online tool. Ultimately, we constructed protein-protein interaction networks among the DEGs by Cytoscape. Among the three pancreatic cell lines, SW1990 exhibited highly deterioration with the activation of genes and pathways related to proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, and invasion. As a result, 50 DEGs enriched in 11 pathways were identified in REG3A-treated SW1990 cells, and 28 DEGs enriched in 9 pathways were detected in IL6-treated cells. Overall, results of microarray analysis followed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting suggest that REG3A regulates pancreatic cell growth by increasing the expression of at least 8 genes: JAK1, STAT3, IL10, FOXM1, KRAS, MYC, CyclinD1, and c-fos; and activation of at least 4 signal pathways: TGFβ, PDGF, angiogenesis and RAS. Similar results were obtained with IL6 treatment. Regulation network analysis confirmed the cell growth related DEGs, and further uncovered three transcription factor families with immune functions regulated by REG3A.