Increased Nuclear Transporter KPNA2 Contributes to Tumor Immune Evasion by Enhancing PD-L1 Expression in PDAC

Figure 4

KPNA2 maintained the expression of PD-L1 by mediating nuclear translocation of STAT3. (a) GSEA analysis of KPNA2 expression in PDAC using the TCGA dataset. NES: normalized enrichment score. (b) Coimmunofluorescence of KPNA2 and STAT3 in MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cells (scale bar: 10 μm). (c, d) KPNA2 knockdown could inhibit the nuclear translocation of STAT3 in MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cells (scale bar: 10 μm). (e, f) The expression of nuclear p-STAT3 was detected in control and KPNA2 knockdown PDAC cells. Lamin B was used as the loading control of nuclear protein. (g) IHC staining of p-STAT3 in mouse tumor lesions inoculated with KPC1199-luc cell treatment with sh-KPNA2 or control vector (scale bar: 100 μm). (h, i) Relative mRNA expression level and protein level of PD-L1 in PDAC cells treated with 2.5 μM stattic, STAT3 inhibitor. (j) Proposed model for nuclear transporter KPNA2 promotes the PDAC progress.

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