Enhanced expression of the type II transforming growth factor beta receptor in human pancreatic cancer cells without alteration of type III receptor expression.

We have recently found that human pancreatic adenocarcinomas exhibit strong immunostaining for the three mammalian transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) isoforms. These important growth-regulating polypeptides bind to a number of proteins, including the type I TGF-beta receptor (T beta R-I), type II TGF-beta receptor (T beta R-II), and the type III TGF-beta receptor (T beta R-III). In the present study we sought to determine whether T beta R-II and T beta R-III expression is altered in pancreatic cancer. Northern blot analysis indicated that, by comparison with the normal pancreas, pancreatic adenocarcinomas exhibited a 4.6-fold increase (P < 0.01) in mRNA levels encoding T beta R-II. In contrast, mRNA levels encoding T beta R-III were not increased. In situ hybridization showed that T beta R-II mRNA was expressed in the majority of cancer cells, whereas mRNA grains encoding T beta R-III were detectable in only a few cancer cells and were present mainly in the surrounding stroma. These findings suggest that enhanced levels of T beta R-II may have a role in regulating human pancreatic cancer cell growth, while T beta R-III may function in the extracellular matrix.