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. 2024 Jun 27;16(13):2362.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16132362.

Combined PIVKA II and Vimentin-Guided EMT Tracking in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Combined Biomarker-Guided EMT Tracking in PDAC

Antonella Farina  1 , Valentina Viggiani  1 , Francesca Cortese  1 , Marta Moretti  1 , Sara Tartaglione  1 , Antonio Angeloni  1 , Emanuela Anastasi  1
Affiliations

Combined PIVKA II and Vimentin-Guided EMT Tracking in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Combined Biomarker-Guided EMT Tracking in PDAC

Antonella Farina et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

"Background/Aim": the current inability to diagnose Pancreatic Cancer Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) at an early stage strongly influences therapeutic strategies. Protein Induced by Vitamin K Absence (PIVKA II) showed an accurate diagnostic performance for PDAC. Since circulating PIVKA II has been recently associated with pancreatic origin cells with Vimentin, an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) early activation marker, the aim of this study was to investigate in vivo the combination between the two proteins. "Materials and Methods": we assayed the presence of PIVKA II and Vimentin proteins by using different diagnostic methods. A total of 20 PDAC patients and 10 healthy donors were tested by Western Blot analysis; 74 PDAC patient and 46 healthy donors were assayed by ECLIA and Elisa. "Results": Western Blot analysis showed the concomitant expression of PIVKA II and Vimentin in PDAC patient sera. Immunometric assay performed on a larger cohort of patients demonstrated that 72% of PIVKA II-positive PDAC patients were Vimentin-positive. Additionally, in a group of PDAC patients with PIVKA II levels ≥2070 ng/mL, the percentage of Vimentin-positive subjects reached 84%. "Conclusion": the association between PIVKA II protein and the EMT suggests that this molecule could be considered a marker of the acquisition of an aggressive phenotype.

Keywords: EMT; PDAC; PIVKA II; Vimentin; biomarkers.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have disclosed any financial or personal relationship with organizations that could potentially be perceived as influencing the described research.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PIVKA II and Vimentin expression in human sera. Representative Western Blot analysis performed on human sera. Sera were treated as described in Materials and Methods. On the left panel, PDAC sera (1–2–3) showed PIVKA II (67 kDa) and Vimentin (57 kDa). The presence of upper migrating bands is a not specific signal. Healthy donor serum was loaded as a negative control (neg). When loading control, we show a Ponceau staining of the blot (right panel), and the prominent band of this staining is albumin. One representative experiment out of three is shown.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Vimentin and PIVKA II levels in PDAC and HD. (a) Receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve on Vimentin. Suggested threshold is 487 ng/mL. (b) Vimentin percentage of positivity in healthy donors compared to PDAC patients. HD = healthy donor; PDAC = Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma sera.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of Vimentin-positive PDAC patients in contiguous classes of PIVKA II.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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