Abstract 4435: Taurine metabolism as a marker for pancreatic cancer

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), known for its aggressive nature and poor prognosis, presents a significantly altered metabolic landscape compared to normal pancreatic tissue, a feature that has been the focus of recent research but remains underexplored in actual pancreatic tissues. In this study, we undertook an untargeted metabolomics analysis to compare the metabolic profiles of PDAC with matched normal tissues, revealing a notable elevation in taurine levels in PDAC. This increase was further validated through immunohistochemistry in separate PDAC and normal tissue samples. To delve deeper, we conducted a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis, integrating transcriptomic and proteomic data, which identified the taurine metabolism pathway as significantly altered, with ADO emerging as a pivotal gene in this process. Further investigations, including gene modulation and xenograft models, demonstrated that ADO knockdown curtails cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth, potentially impacting the Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. Clinically, the ADO-Taurine axis was found to have substantial prognostic significance, correlating with recurrence rates and survival in PDAC patients. These insights collectively suggest that the ADO-Taurine axis, through its modulation of taurine metabolism, presents as a promising biomarker for PDAC prognosis and a potential avenue for therapeutic development. Citation Format: Hoonsik Nam, Woohyung Lee, Ha T. Nguyen, Linh X. Mai, Song Cheol Kim, Sunghyouk Park. Taurine metabolism as a marker for pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4435.