Knockdown of serine/threonine protein phosphatase 5 enhances gemcitabine sensitivity by promoting apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro.

The targeting protein of serine/threonine protein phosphatase 5 (PPP5C) has been reported to be present in various malignancies. However, its functional role in pancreatic cancer (PC) remains unknown. In the present study, the function of PPP5C in PC cells treated with the first-line drug gemcitabine (GEM) was investigated. Short hairpin (sh)RNA targeting PPP5C was constructed to knockdown PPP5C in PANC-1 cells. Cell cycle and apoptosis analyses were performed in order to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects induced by PPP5C silencing combined with GEM treatment. Western blot analysis was applied to detect the expression of certain key regulators of cell apoptosis in PANC-1 cells treated with GEM. shRNA against PPP5C effectively suppressed the proliferation of PANC-1 cells treated with GEM. Additionally, cell cycle analysis indicated that PPP5C knockdown resulted in a higher number of PANC-1 cells treated with GEM in G0/G1 phase arrest. Knockdown of PPP5C increased the expression of associated apoptotic markers, including cleaved caspase 3, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and phosphorylated (p)-p53. In addition, the combination of treatment with GEM and PPP5C silencing significantly increased the apoptosis of PANC-1 cells by affecting the expression levels of p-c-Jun N-terminal kinases and p-p38. The present study suggests that PPP5C may be a potential target for the treatment of PC and that it may enhance the gemcitabine sensitivity of PC cells.