Abstract 536: The role of CCN1 in mutant K-RAS addiction in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Abstract Mutant K-RAS addiction of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PDAC) coordinates their transformation, proliferation, and survival. Therefore, initially, it had an impression that targeting mutant K-RAS could be an ideal strategy for treating PDAC. However, after decades of studies, no effective RAS inhibitors reached the clinic, indicating that RAS-oncoprotein is an undruggable target in PDAC. Thus, identifying a new target linked with K-RAS signaling was most needed. Using genetically engineered cell lines and K-RAS-driven genetically engineered mouse models (KC or KPC) with or without pancreas-specific CCN1 conditional knockout background, we identified a positive feedback circuit between CCN1 and mutant K-RAS expression. Moreover, blocking this feedback via conditional knockout of CCN1 in the pancreas significantly reduced invasive phenotypes, PDAC growth, and metastasis in the lung in KC and KPC mice. Mechanistically we found that the K-RAS-CCN1 feedback circuit is regulated by microRNA miR-145 via a feedforward mechanism. Collectively, these studies highlight the clinical potential of targeting CCN1 in PDAC. (This work is supported by VA Merit grants). Citation Format: Archana De, Vijayalaxmi Gupta, Amlan Das, Arnab Ghosh, Inamul Haque, Laster Lau, Sushanta K. Banerjee, Snigdha Banerjee. The role of CCN1 in mutant K-RAS addiction in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 536.