Rgs8 and Rgs16 protect against pancreatitis and PDA cancer progression

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has the highest death rate among major cancers, and new treatments are desperately needed. KCR8‐16 mice are an excellent model for identification, characterization, and in vivo validation of novel PDA therapeutics. Kras oncogenic mutations (e.g. Kras G12D ) are found in over 90% of human PDA. Kras can be activated by protein kinase and G‐Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) signaling. Regulator of G protein signaling (Rgs) proteins regulate GPCR signaling by accelerating the GTPase activity of Gq/11‐ and Gi‐class alpha subunits. Activating alleles of Gq/11 that are resistant to Rgs inhibition are found in benign precursors of PDA in humans. We previously reported that Rgs8 and Rgs16 are in vivo reporters of Kras activity in pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), and PDA progression in KIC;Rgs16::GFP mice ( p48::Cre/+; Kras G12D/+ ; Cdkn2a f/f ; Rgs16 GFP ) (DMM 8, 2015). To identify the role Rgs8 and Rgs16 in PDA, we crossed the Rgs8‐16 double knockout into pancreas specific Kras G12D ( KC ) mutant mice (termed KCR8‐16 ). We found that deletion of Rgs8 and Rgs16 dramatically accelerated PDA progression in the KC backgrond. Additional pancreatic stress evoked by caerulein treatment caused immediate and pancreas‐wide progression to PDA in KCR8‐16 mice. Our study suggest Rgs8 and Rgs16 act as tumor suppressor genes in PDA initiation and progression. Moreover, KCR8‐16 and KIC;Rgs16::GFP mice can be used as excellent models for identification and rapid in vivo validation of PDA therapeutics. Support or Funding Information NCI R01 CA192381 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .