Abstract 4115: GS-19, a novel GSK inhibitor suppresses the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer remains the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. Therefore, identification of novel strategies to control and treat pancreatic cancer is of great importance. GS-19 is a novel compound recently found to be a GSK inhibitor. In this study, we determined the anti-cancer effects of GS-19 in pancreatic cancer cells. GS-19 treatment inhibited the growth of Panc-1 and BxPC-3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Both the cell lines treated with GS-19 exhibited G-1 cell cycle arrest as well as apoptosis. Western blot analysis of both BxPC-3 and Panc-1 cells treated with GS-19 inhibited the activation (phosphorylation) and expression of key survival signaling proteins such as EGFR, STAT3 and AKT. The apoptosis induced by GS-19 was associated with cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP. Taken together, our results suggest that GS-19 suppress pancreatic cancer cell growth by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling. However, further mechanistic studies are in progress to establish the role of EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. [The studies in part were supported by R01 grant CA129038 awarded by NIH to S.K.S.] Citation Format: Alok Ranjan, Ashlee Birkenfeld, Jianyu Lu, Duy Hua, Sanjay K. Srivastava. GS-19, a novel GSK inhibitor suppresses the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4115. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4115