Calcium Channel α2δ1 is Essential for Pancreatic Tumor-Initiating Cells through Sequential Phosphorylation of PKM2

Tumor-initiating cells (TICs) drive pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis. However, TICs are highly plastic and heterogenous, which impede the robust identification and targeted therapy of such a population. The aim of this study is to identify the surface marker and therapeutic target for pancreatic TICs.

We isolated voltage-gated calcium channel α2δ1 subunit (isoform 5)-positive subpopulation from pancreatic cancer cell lines and freshly resected primary tissues by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and evaluated their TIC properties by spheroid formation and tumorigenic assays. Coimmunoprecipitation was used to identify the direct substrate of CaMKⅡδ.

We demonstrate that the voltage-gated calcium channel α2δ1 subunit (isoform 5) marks a subpopulation of pancreatic TICs with the highest TIC frequency among the known pancreatic TIC markers tested. Furthermore, α2δ1 is functionally sufficient and indispensable to promote TIC properties by mediating Ca²⁺ influx, which activates CaMKⅡδ to directly phosphorylate PKM2 at T454 that results in subsequent phosphorylation at Y105 to translocate into nucleus, enhancing the stem-like properties. Interestingly, blocking α2δ1 with its specific antibody has remarkably therapeutic effects on pancreatic cancer xenografts by reducing TICs.

α2δ1 promotes pancreatic TIC properties through sequential phosphorylation of PKM2 mediated by CaMKⅡδ, and targeting α2δ1 provides a therapeutic strategy against TICs for pancreatic cancer.