Comprehensive Analysis of Expression, Clinicopathological Association and Potential Prognostic Significance of RABs in Pancreatic Cancer

RAB proteins (RABs) represent the largest subfamily of Ras-like small GTPases that regulate a wide variety of endosomal membrane transport pathways. Their aberrant expression has been demonstrated in various malignancies and implicated in pathogenesis. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we analyzed the differential expression and clinicopathological association of genes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Of the 62 genes analyzed, five and ) exhibited statistically significant upregulation, while five ( and ) were downregulated in PDAC as compared to the normal pancreas. Racially disparate expression was also reported for and . However, no clear trend of altered expression was observed with increasing stage and grade, age, and gender of the patients. PDAC from occasional drinkers had significantly higher expression of compared to daily or weekly drinkers, whereas expression was significantly higher in social drinkers, compared to occasional ones. The expression of was significantly reduced in PDAC from diabetic patients, whereas was significantly lower in pancreatitis patients. More importantly, a significant association of high expression of and , and low expression of and was observed with poorer survival of PC patients. Together, our study suggests potential diagnostic and prognostic significance of RABs in PDAC, warranting further investigations to define their functional and mechanistic significance.