Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates and largely ineffective
therapies.
Aspirin is the prototypical anti-
cancer agent but its long-term use is associated with significant side effects.
NOSH-aspirin belongs to a new class of
anti-inflammatory agents that were designed to be safer alternatives by releasing
nitric oxide and
hydrogen sulfide. In this study we evaluated the effects of
NOSH-aspirin against
pancreatic cancer using cell lines and a xenograft mouse model.
NOSH-aspirin inhibited growth of MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3
pancreatic cancer cells with IC50s of 47 ± 5, and 57 ± 4 nM, respectively, while it did not inhibit growth of a normal pancreatic epithelial cell line at these concentrations.
NOSH-aspirin inhibited cell proliferation, caused G0/G1 phase cycle arrest, leading to increased apoptosis. Treated cells displayed increases in
reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
caspase-3 activity. In MIA PaCa-2 cell xenografts,
NOSH-aspirin significantly reduced
tumor growth and
tumor mass. Growth inhibition was due to reduced proliferation (decreased
PCNA expression) and induction of apoptosis (increased TUNEL positive cells). Expressions of ROS, iNOS, and mutated p53 were increased; while that of NF-κB and FoxM1 that were high in vehicle-treated xenografts were significantly inhibited by
NOSH-aspirin. Taken together, these molecular events and signaling pathways contribute to
NOSH-aspirin mediated growth inhibition and apoptotic death of
pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.