Abstract: Objective To investigate the correlation between c-MYC expression and mitochondrial metabolism in malignant duct epithelial cells of pancreatic cancer patients. Methods GEPIA database was used to analyze the correlation between c-MYC expression and overall survival. The expression of c-MYC in tumor tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The difference of DLAT and DLST gene expression between tumor and normal tissues was compared in GEPIA database. HPA database was used to analyze the correlation between c-MYC and DLAT, DLST expression in tumor tissues. The expression level of DLAT and DLST in tumor tissues was evaluated by immunofluorescence staining. Results The high expression of c-MYC gene was negatively correlated with overall survival (P＜0.01). The level of c-MYC protein was positively correlated with the pathological grade of PanIN. Compared with normal tissues, the expression of DLAT and DLST genes in pancreatic cancer cells was increased (P＜0.01). The protein level of c-MYC was positively correlated with those of DLAT and DLST (P＜0.01, P＜0.001). Conclusions The high expression of mitochondrial metabolic enzymes DLAT and DLST in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells is significantly correlated with the expression level of c-MYC, which increases with the progression of pancreatic cancer.

Key words: pancreatic cancer, c-MYC, mitochondrial metabolism