Monensin inhibits cell proliferation and tumor growth of chemo-resistant pancreatic cancer cells by targeting the EGFR signaling pathway

Sci Rep. 2018 Dec 17;8(1):17914. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36214-5.

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most deadly malignancies with <5% five-year survival rate due to late diagnosis, limited treatment options and chemoresistance. There is thus an urgent unmet clinical need to develop effective anticancer drugs to treat pancreatic cancer. Here, we study the potential of repurposing monensin as an anticancer drug for chemo-resistant pancreatic cancer. Using the two commonly-used chemo-resistant pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1 and MiaPaCa-2, we show that monensin suppresses cell proliferation and migration, and cell cycle progression, while solicits apoptosis in pancreatic cancer lines at a low micromole range. Moreover, monensin functions synergistically with gemcitabine or EGFR inhibitor erlotinib in suppressing cell growth and inducing cell death of pancreatic cancer cells. Mechanistically, monensin suppresses numerous cancer-associated pathways, such as E2F/DP1, STAT1/2, NFkB, AP-1, Elk-1/SRF, and represses EGFR expression in pancreatic cancer lines. Furthermore, the in vivo study shows that monensin blunts PDAC xenograft tumor growth by suppressing cell proliferation via targeting EGFR pathway. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that monensin can be repurposed as an effective anti-pancreatic cancer drug even though more investigations are needed to validate its safety and anticancer efficacy in pre-clinical and clinical models.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / drug therapy
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / metabolism
  • Cell Cycle / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Deoxycytidine / analogs & derivatives
  • Deoxycytidine / pharmacology
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / drug effects
  • Drug Synergism
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism
  • Erlotinib Hydrochloride / pharmacology
  • Gemcitabine
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Monensin / pharmacology*
  • Pancreas / drug effects
  • Pancreas / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays / methods

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Monensin
  • Erlotinib Hydrochloride
  • EGFR protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Gemcitabine