Differential expression of RBM5 and KRAS in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and their association with clinicopathological features

RNA binding motif 5 (RBM5) is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis through pre-mRNA splicing of related genes. This study aimed to detect RBM5 and KRAS expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and their association with clinicopathological features. Detection of RBM5 and KRAS expression by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting was performed at mRNA and protein levels, respectively, in pancreatic cancer and non-tumor tissues. In addition, the association of RBM5 and KRAS expression with clinicopathological parameters and tumor recurrence was analyzed. The expression of RBM5 was significantly downregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues compared to peritumoral tissues at the mRNA and protein levels. Contrastingly, KRAS was significantly overexpressed in pancreatic cancerous tissues compared to peritumoral tissues. Analysis revealed that RBM5 expression was negatively correlated with KRAS expression in pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, reduced RBM5 expression has a close association with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) stage and nerve and venous invasion, while overexpression of KRAS proteins was significantly correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, UICC stage and nerve and venous invasion of pancreatic cancer. Significant RBM5 underexpression and KRAS overexpression were observed in pancreatic cancer compared to non-tumor tissues. There is a close association of differential RBM5 and KRAS with poor clinicopathological features, suggesting their potential roles in the progression and metastasis of pancreatic cancer.