Abstract
Pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are a subset of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts, which play a critical role in pancreatic fibrosis, a characteristic feature of pancreatic cancer. The interplay between PSCs and pancreatic cancer cells is vital for promotion of tumor progression and metastasis. BAG3 is correlated with poor prognostics in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), however, the exact mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that BAG3 downregulation decreased IL6 release by PDACs, and IL6 reduction was, at least partially, responsible for suppression of PSCs activation by PDACs with BAG3 downmodulation. Importantly, BAG3 expression positively correlated with fibrosis in pancreatic cancer tissue. With regard to the underlying mechanism, we demonstrated that BAG3 knockdown facilitated recruitment of Agonaute 2 (Ago2) to IL6 mRNA, resulting in destabilization of IL6 mRNA. In addition, the current study demonstrated that phosphorylation at Serine (Ser) 387 site was required for recruitment of Ago2-containing miRISC to IL6 mRNA and BAG3 knockdown facilitated Ago2 loading to IL6 mRNA via increasing its phosphorylation at Ser 387. This study shed new light on the tumor-promoting role of BAG3 in PDAC tumors, suggesting BAG3 might represent an interesting therapeutic opportunity to PDAC patients.