E2F2 enhances the chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer to gemcitabine by regulating the cell cycle and upregulating the expression of RRM2.

Both pro-oncogenic and anti-oncogenic effects of E2F2 have been revealed in different malignancies. However, the precise role of E2F2 in pancreatic cancer, in particular in relation to therapeutic intervention with gemcitabine, remains unclear. In this study, the effect of E2F2 on the proliferation and cell cycle modulation of pancreatic cancer cells, and whether E2F2 plays a role in the treatment of pancreatic cancer cells by gemcitabine, were investigated. The expression of E2F2 in pancreatic cancer was assessed by various methods including bioinformatics prediction, Western blotting, and real-time PCR. The effect of E2F2 on the proliferation and cell cycling of pancreatic cancer cells was analyzed by tissue culture and flow cytometry. In addition, the effect of E2F2 on the intervention of pancreatic cancer by gemcitabine was investigated using both in vitro and in vivo approaches. The expression of E2F2 was found to be significantly increased in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. The pathogenic capacity of E2F2 lied in the fact that this transcription factor promoted the transformation of pancreatic cancer cell cycle from G1-phase to S-phase, thus enhancing the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, the expression of E2F2 was increased in pancreatic cancer cells in the presence of gemcitabine, and the augmented expression of E2F2 upregulated the gemcitabine resistance-related gene RRM2 and its downstream signaling molecule deoxycytidine kinase (DCK). The resistance of pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine was confirmed using both in vitro and in vivo models. In this study, E2F2 has been demonstrated for the first time to play a pro-oncogenic role in pancreatic cancer by promoting the transition of the cell cycle from G1-phase to S-phase and, therefore, enhancing the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. E2F2 has also been demonstrated to enhance the chemotherapy resistance of pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine by upregulating the expression of RRM2 and DCK that is downstream of RRM2.