Protein Kinase D1, Reduced in Human Pancreatic Tumors, Increases Secretion of Small Extracellular Vesicles From Cancer Cells That Promote Metastasis to Lung in Mice

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Pancreatic tumor cells release small extracellular vesicles (sEVs, exosomes) that contain lipids and proteins, RNA, and DNA molecules that might promote formation of metastases. It is not clear what cargo these vesicles contain and how they are released. Protein kinase D1 (PRKD1) inhibits cell motility and is believed to be dysregulated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. We investigated whether it regulates production of sEVs in pancreatic cancer cells and their ability to form premetastatic niches for pancreatic cancer cells in mice. METHODS: We analyzed data from UALCAN and human pancreatic tissue microarrays to compare levels of PRKD1 between tumor and nontumor tissues. We studied mice with pancreas-specific disruption of Prkd1 (PRKD1KO mice), mice that express oncogenic KRAS (KC mice), and KC mice with disruption of Prkd1 (PRKD1KO-KC mice). Subcutaneous xenograft tumors were grown in NSG mice from Panc1 cells; some mice were then given injections of sEVs. Pancreata and lung tissues from mice were analyzed by histology, immunohistochemistry, and/or quantitative polymerase chain reaction; we performed nanoparticle tracking analysis of plasma sEVs. The Prkd1 gene was disrupted in Panc1 cells using CRISPR-Cas9 or knocked down with small hairpin RNAs, or PRKD1 activity was inhibited with the selective inhibitor CRT0066101. Pancreatic cancer cell lines were analyzed by gene-expression microarray, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunoblot, and immunofluorescence analyses. sEVs secreted by Panc1 cell lines were analyzed by flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Levels of PRKD1 were reduced in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues compared with nontumor tissues. PRKD1KO-KC mice developed more pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia, at a faster rate, than KC mice, and had more lung metastases and significantly shorter average survival time. Serum from PRKD1KO-KC mice had increased levels of sEVs compared with KC mice. Pancreatic cancer cells with loss or inhibition of PRKD1 increased secretion of sEVs; loss of PRKD1 reduced phosphorylation of its substrate, cortactin, resulting in increased F-actin levels at the plasma membrane. sEVs from cells with loss or reduced expression of PRKD1 had altered content, and injection of these sEVs into mice increased metastasis of xenograft tumors to lung, compared with sEVs from pancreatic cells that expressed PRKD1. PRKD1-deficient pancreatic cancer cells showed increased loading of integrin a6b4 into sEVs-a process that required CD82. CONCLUSIONS: Human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has reduced levels of PRKD1 compared with nontumor pancreatic tissues. Loss of PRKD1 results in reduced phosphorylation of cortactin in pancreatic cancer cell lines, resulting in increased in F-actin at the plasma membrane and increased release of sEVs, with altered content. These sEVs promote metastasis of xenograft and pancreatic tumors to lung in mice.