PTEN is involved in Kanglaite® injection-induced apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells

Background: Kanglaite (R) injection (KLT) exhibits anti-cancer activities in a variety of cancers. The main ingredient is the traditional Chinese medicine Coix seed oil, which has been previously used in the adjunctive therapy of cancer in China. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway be able to progress cell survival and proliferation in various cancers. PTEN (Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on the chromosome 10) is a major inhibitory controller of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling and a critical cancer-suppressor protein. In this study, we examined the mechanisms underlying the effects of KLT in pancreatic cancer cells and the potential role of PTEN. Methods: Flow cytometry and CCK-8 assay were used to examine apoptosis and proliferation, respectively, of PANC-1 cells. RT-PCR and western blotting were performed to measure the expression of genes and proteins, respectively, in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Results: KLT induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells, and these activities were weakened in PTEN-knockdown cells. KLT treatment also resulted in decreased levels of p-Akt and p-mTOR, along with enhanced PTEN. Conclusions: Our results revealed that KLT can induce apoptosis and suppress proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells through the induction of PTEN and downregulation of pAkt and p-mTOR and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Our study shows that KLT could be a potential treatment strategy for pancreatic cancer that harbors functional PTEN.