ERAP2 as a potential biomarker for predicting gemcitabine response in patients with pancreatic cancer

Objective: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant tumors, with rapid metastasis, high mortality rate, and difficult early screening. Currently, gemcitabine is a first-line drug for pancreatic cancer patients, but its clinical effect is limited due to drug resistance. It is particularly important to further identify biomarkers associated with gemcitabine resistance to improve the sensitivity of gemcitabine treatment. Methods: Drug sensitivity data and the corresponding transcript data derived from the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) database for correlation analysis was adopted to obtain genes related to gemcitabine sensitivity. Moreover, the survival model of pancreatic cancer patients treated with gemcitabine in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was utilized to obtain key genes. Multiple in vitro assays were performed to verify the function of the key biomarker. Results: Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidase 2 (ERAP2) was identified as a biomarker promoting gemcitabine resistance, and its high expression resulted in a worse prognosis. Besides, gemcitabine significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of ERAP2 in pancreatic cancer cells. Additionally, ERAP2 knockdown suppressed tumorigenesis and potentiated gemcitabine-induced growth, migration and invasion inhibition in human pancreatic cancer cells. Conclusions: ERAP2 may be a novel key biomarker for gemcitabine sensitivity and diagnosis, thus providing an effective therapeutic strategy for pancreatic cancer treatment.