A benzochalcone derivative synchronously induces apoptosis and ferroptosis in pancreatic cancer cells

Xiaoqing Guan; Bing Zhao; Xiaodan Guan; Jinyun Dong; Jieer Ying

doi:10.7717/peerj.16291

A benzochalcone derivative synchronously induces apoptosis and ferroptosis in pancreatic cancer cells

PeerJ. 2023 Nov 1:11:e16291. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16291. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiaoqing Guan^{1

2}, Bing Zhao¹, Xiaodan Guan¹, Jinyun Dong¹, Jieer Ying^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Key Laboratory of Prevention, Diagnosis and Therapy of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive and lethal disease with limited treatment options. In this study, we investigated the potential therapeutic effects of compound KL-6 on pancreatic cancer cells.

Methods: The study involved assessing the inhibitory effects of KL-6 on cell proliferation, clonogenic potential, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Additionally, we examined the action mechanism of KL-6 by RNA-seq and bioinformatic analysis and validated by qRT-PCR and western blot in pancreatic cancer cells.

Results: Our results demonstrated that KL-6 effectively inhibited the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. It induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, disrupting the cell cycle progression and promoting cell death. KL-6 also exhibited inhibitory effects on cell migration and invasion, suggesting its potential to suppress the metastatic properties of pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, KL-6 modulated the expression of genes involved in various cancer-related pathways including apoptosis and ferroptosis.

Conclusion: These findings collectively support the potential of KL-6 as a promising therapeutic option for pancreatic cancer treatment. Further research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and evaluate the clinical efficacy of KL-6 in pancreatic cancer patients.

Keywords: Apoptosis; Ferroptosis; PLAC8; Pancreatic cancer; Therapeutic agent.

MeSH terms

Apoptosis
Ferroptosis*
Humans
Pancreas / metabolism
Pancreatic Neoplasms* / drug therapy

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LQ22H280022). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.