Oncogenic DDX46 promotes pancreatic cancer development and gemcitabine resistance by facilitating the JMJD6/CDK4 signaling pathway.

Pancreatic cancer (PAAD) is a fatal malignancy with a poor prognosis. The treatment strategies are quite limited and gemcitabine is the canonical one, which has been proven to improve the prognosis of PAAD patients. However, the treatment efficiency of gemcitabine is far from satisfactory and remains to be further improved. DEAD-Box Helicase 46 (DDX46) is a kind of RNA helicase, which promotes multiple cancers development. However, its role in PAAD is largely unknown. In the present study, we found DDX46 was highly expressed in PAAD tissues and correlated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of DDX46 repressed PAAD cell growth in vitro and in vivo and sensitized PAAD cells to gemcitabine treatment. Mechanically, DDX46 bound to JMJD6 and promoted JMJD6/CDK4 signaling pathway. Overexpression of JMJD6 reversed the anti-tumor function of DDX46 knockdown. Our study found a novel pathological mechanism of PAAD progression and provided a potential therapeutic target to improve gemcitabine efficiency.