The Association of Aquaporins with MAPK Signaling Pathway Unveils Potential Prognostic Biomarkers for Pancreatic Cancer: A Transcriptomics Approach

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal and challenging malignancies. Its severity is primarily linked to the constitutively activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Aquaporins (AQPs) are frequently overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, playing crucial roles in cell signaling, and consequently promoting cell migration, proliferation, and invasion. Here, we investigate the transcriptomics of key players in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer tissues, correlating them with tumor AQP expression to highlight their potential as diagnostic or prognostic tools. The transcriptomics analysis was conducted in 24 paired pancreatic tumors and adjacent healthy tissues, and analyses were performed considering the patients’ age and gender, as well as tumor invasiveness and aggressiveness. Our results revealed strong positive Pearson correlation coefficients between AQP3 and c-Jun, and between AQP5 and CDH1/EGFR in pancreatic tumors but not in healthy tissues, with posterior in vitro confirmation in pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells, suggesting a shift in the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression that certainly affect the physiology of the tissue, influencing cancer initiation and progression. This study underscores the interplay between AQPs and cancer signaling pathways, opening new avenues for defining novel clinical biomarkers and improving the early detection of pancreatic cancer.