Cucurmosin Kills Human Pancreatic Cancer SW-1990 Cells in vitro and in vivo

Objective: To investigate the effect of cucurmosin (CUS) on proliferation inhibition in the human pancreatic cancer cell line SW-1990 in vitro and in vivo. Methods: 1. MTT assay was used to analyse the proliferation inhibition of CUS in SW-1990 cells compared with gemcitabine (GEM) in vitro. 2. We established an NOD-SCID mice orthotopic transplantation model and estimated the proliferation inhibition effect of CUS in SW-1990 cells in vivo. 3. Western blot was used to determine the protein expressions of Caspase 3, Bcl-2, Caspase 9, PI3K, Akt, mTOR, P70S6k, and 4E-BP1 after CUS intervention. Results: 1. CUS inhibited the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells and induced apoptosis in CUS dose- and time-dependent manners. 2. NOD-SCID mice models were established successfully, and the tumour proliferation inhibition rates of these models increased compared with the control group. 3. CUS inhibited all of the examined proteins in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway and induced active fragments of Caspase 3 and Caspase 9. Conclusion: 1. CUS can inhibit the growth of SW-1990 cells in vitro and in vivo. 2. CUS can induce apoptosis in SW-1990 cells to inhibit cell growth. Keywords: Pancreatic cancer, cucurmosin, proliferation inhibition, apoptosis.