Effects of atorvastatin in combination with celecoxib and tipifarnib on proliferation and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer sphere-forming cells.

Effects of atorvastatin in combination with celecoxib and tipifarnib on proliferation and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer sphere-forming cells. Eur J Pharmacol. 2020 Dec 24;:173840 Authors: Xu XT, Chen J, Ren X, Ma YR, Wang X, Ma YY, Zhao DG, Zhou RP, Zhang K, Goodin S, Li DL, Zheng X Abstract Cancer stem cell (CSC) plays an important role in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and treatment failure. CSCs are characterized by their ability to form tumor spheres in serum-free medium and expression of CSC related markers. In the present study, we investigated the effect atorvastatin, celecoxib and tipifarnib in combination on proliferation and apoptosis in Panc-1 sphere-forming cells. The sphere-forming cells were isolated from Panc-1 cells by sphere-forming method. These sphere-forming cells showed CSC properties. The levels of CD44, CD133 and ALDH1A1 in the sphere-forming cells were increased. Moreover, Panc-1 sphere-forming cells were resistant to chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine. Combined atorvastatin with celecoxib and tipifarnib synergistically decreased the sphere forming ability of Panc-1 cells and the drug combination also strongly inhibited cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis in the sphere-forming cells. The effects of the drug combination on the Panc-1 sphere-forming cells were associated with decreases in the levels of CD44, CD133 and ALDH1A1, and suppression of Akt and NF-κB activation. Results of the present study i...
Source: European Journal of Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Eur J Pharmacol Source Type: research