1
|
Liu K, Geng Y, Wang L, Xu H, Zou M, Li Y, Zhao Z, Chen T, Xu F, Sun L, Wu S, Gu Y. Systematic exploration of the underlying mechanism of gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Mol Oncol 2022; 16:3034-3051. [PMID: 35810469 PMCID: PMC9394232 DOI: 10.1002/1878-0261.13279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Resistance to gemcitabine is the main challenge of chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Hence, the development of a response signature to gemcitabine is essential for precision therapy of PDAC. However, existing quantitative signatures of gemcitabine are susceptible to batch effects and variations in sequencing platforms. Therefore, based on within-sample relative expression ordering of pairwise genes, we developed a transcriptome-based gemcitabine signature consisting of 28 gene pairs (28-GPS) that could predict response to gemcitabine for PDAC at the individual level. The 28-GPS was superior to previous quantitative signatures in terms of classification accuracy and prognostic performance. Resistant samples classified by 28-GPS showed poorer overall survival, higher genomic instability, lower immune infiltration, higher metabolic level and higher-fidelity DNA damage repair compared with sensitive samples. In addition, we found that gemcitabine combined with phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor may be an alternative treatment strategy for PDAC. Single-cell analysis revealed that cancer cells in the same PDAC sample showed both the characteristics of sensitivity and resistance to gemcitabine, and the activation of the TGFβ signalling pathway could promote progression of PDAC. In brief, 28-GPS could robustly determine whether PDAC is resistant or sensitive to gemcitabine, and may be an auxiliary tool for clinical treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kaidong Liu
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Yiding Geng
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Linzhu Wang
- Department of Human Anatomy, Key Laboratory of Preservation of Human Genetic Resources and Disease Control in China, Ministry of EducationHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Huanhuan Xu
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Min Zou
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Yawei Li
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Zhangxiang Zhao
- The Sino‐Russian Medical Research Center of Jinan University, the Institute of Chronic Disease of Jinan UniversityThe First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Tingting Chen
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Fengyan Xu
- Department of Human Anatomy, Key Laboratory of Preservation of Human Genetic Resources and Disease Control in China, Ministry of EducationHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Liang Sun
- Department of Human Anatomy, Key Laboratory of Preservation of Human Genetic Resources and Disease Control in China, Ministry of EducationHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Shuliang Wu
- Department of Human Anatomy, Key Laboratory of Preservation of Human Genetic Resources and Disease Control in China, Ministry of EducationHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Yunyan Gu
- Department of Systems Biology, College of Bioinformatics Science and TechnologyHarbin Medical UniversityHarbinChina
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Yi YW, Park NY, Park JI, Seong YS, Hong YB. Doxycycline potentiates the anti-proliferation effects of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cells. Am J Cancer Res 2021; 11:3515-3536. [PMID: 34354858 PMCID: PMC8332860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Gemcitabine is often recommended as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. However, gemcitabine resistance is a major challenge in the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Our group serendipitously identified the role of doxycycline as a potentiator of gemcitabine efficacy in pancreatic cancer cells. Doxycycline and gemcitabine co-treatment was significantly more cytotoxic to pancreatic cancer cells compared to gemcitabine alone. Interestingly, doxycycline only exerted synergistic effects when coupled with gemcitabine as opposed to other conventional chemotherapeutics including nucleoside analogs. The anti-clonogenic effects of gemcitabine on pancreatic cancer cells were also enhanced by doxycycline. According to cell cycle analyses, doxycycline prolonged gemcitabine-mediated S phase cell cycle arrest. Further, gene expression profiling analyses indicated that a small set of genes involved in cell cycle regulation were uniquely modulated by gemcitabine and doxycycline co-treatment compared to gemcitabine alone. Western blot analyses indicated that several cell cycle-related proteins, including cyclin D1, p21, and DNA damage inducible transcript 4 (DDIT4), were further modulated by doxycycline and gemcitabine co-treatment. Taken together, our findings indicate that doxycycline enhances the effects of gemcitabine on cell cycle progression, thus rendering pancreatic cancer cells more sensitive to gemcitabine. However, additional studies are required to assess the mechanisms of doxycycline and gemcitabine synergism, which might lead to novel treatment options for pancreatic cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yong Weon Yi
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and BK21 PLUS Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook UniversityCheonan, Korea
| | - Na Young Park
- Department of Translational Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Dong-A UniversityBusan 49201, Korea
| | - Joo-In Park
- Department of Translational Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Dong-A UniversityBusan 49201, Korea
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Dong-A UniversityBusan 49201, Korea
| | - Yeon-Sun Seong
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and BK21 PLUS Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook UniversityCheonan, Korea
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Dankook UniversityCheonan 31116, Korea
- Graduate School of Convergence Medical Science, Dankook UniversityCheonan 31116, Korea
| | - Young Bin Hong
- Department of Translational Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Dong-A UniversityBusan 49201, Korea
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Dong-A UniversityBusan 49201, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
You KS, Yi YW, Cho J, Seong YS. Dual Inhibition of AKT and MEK Pathways Potentiates the Anti-Cancer Effect of Gefitinib in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:1205. [PMID: 33801977 PMCID: PMC8000364 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13061205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an unmet medical need for the development of new targeted therapeutic strategies for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). With drug combination screenings, we found that the triple combination of the protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog (AKT), and MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) is effective in inducing apoptosis in TNBC cells. A set of PKIs were first screened in combination with gefitinib in the TNBC cell line, MDA-MB-231. The AKT inhibitor, AT7867, was identified and further analyzed in two mesenchymal stem-like (MSL) subtype TNBC cells, MDA-MB-231 and HS578T. A combination of gefitinib and AT7867 reduced the proliferation and long-term survival of MSL TNBC cells. However, gefitinib and AT7867 induced the activation of the rat sarcoma (RAS)/ v-raf-1 murine leukemia viral oncogene homolog (RAF)/MEK/ extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. To inhibit this pathway, MEK/ERK inhibitors were further screened in MDA-MB-231 cells in the presence of gefitinib and AT7867. As a result, we identified that the MEK inhibitor, PD-0325901, further enhanced the anti-proliferative and anti-clonogenic effects of gefitinib and AT7867 by inducing apoptosis. Our results suggest that the dual inhibition of the AKT and MEK pathways is a novel potential therapeutic strategy for targeting EGFR in TNBC cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kyu Sic You
- Graduate School of Convergence Medical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea;
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea
| | - Yong Weon Yi
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea;
| | - Jeonghee Cho
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea;
| | - Yeon-Sun Seong
- Graduate School of Convergence Medical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea;
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea;
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Duong HQ, Hong YB, Kim JS, Lee HS, Yi YW, Kim YJ, Wang A, Zhao W, Cho CH, Seong YS, Bae I. Inhibition of checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2) enhances sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells to gemcitabine. J Cell Mol Med 2013; 17:1261-70. [PMID: 23855452 PMCID: PMC4159025 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.12101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2013] [Revised: 05/26/2013] [Accepted: 06/03/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2) plays pivotal function as an effector of cell cycle checkpoint arrest following DNA damage. Recently, we found that co-treatment of NSC109555 (a potent and selective CHK2 inhibitor) potentiated the cytotoxic effect of gemcitabine (GEM) in pancreatic cancer MIA PaCa-2 cells. Here, we further examined whether NSC109555 could enhance the antitumour effect of GEM in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines. In this study, the combination treatment of NSC109555 plus GEM demonstrated strong synergistic antitumour effect in four pancreatic cancer cells (MIA PaCa-2, CFPAC-1, Panc-1 and BxPC-3). In addition, the GEM/NSC109555 combination significantly increased the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), accompanied by induction of apoptotic cell death. Inhibition of ROS generation by N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) significantly reversed the effect of GEM/NSC109555 in apoptosis and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, genetic knockdown of CHK2 by siRNA enhanced GEM-induced apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that inhibition of CHK2 would be a beneficial therapeutic approach for pancreatic cancer therapy in clinical treatment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Quan Duong
- Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; WCU (World Class University) Research Center of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Kim YJ, Hong YB, Cho CH, Seong YS, Bae I. Exploring protein kinase inhibitors: unveiling gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer. Pancreas 2012; 41:815-6. [PMID: 22695089 PMCID: PMC3375494 DOI: 10.1097/mpa.0b013e31823f3fcb] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yeon Jeong Kim
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Young Bin Hong
- Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Chi Heum Cho
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keimyung University, School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
| | - Yeon-Sun Seong
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center of Nanobiomedical Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Insoo Bae
- Correspondence: Tel, 1-202-687-5267; Fax, 1-202-687-2847;
| |
Collapse
|