The effect of danusertib, an Aurora kinase inhibitor, onto the cytotoxicity, cell cycle and apoptosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells

Background: Pancreatic cancer is the second type of cancer that causes the most death among the digestive system cancers. Difficulties in early diagnosis and rapidly progressing to advanced stages are most common in high mortality rate of pancreatic carcinoma. The mutation of Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase and mitotic kinases (such as Aurora kinases), which are involved in the cell cycle, plays an important role in the progression of cancer. Enzymes belonging to Aurora kinase family (-A, -B, -C) have been reported to play a major role in cancer progression, invasion and metastasis. Therefore, the purpose of this study, investigate of the effect of danusertib, an Aurora kinase inhibitor, onto cytotoxicity, apoptosis and cell cycle in human pancreatic carcinoma CFPAC-1 cells. Materials and Methods: For determining the IC50 value, the 20,000 cells were seeded in E-plate 16 wells in a real-time cell analyzer and various concentrations of danusertib (1-10,000 nM) were applied onto CFPAC-1 cells incubated in IMDM medium. Cell index demonstrated that the proliferation of fraction cells was measured in real time. On the other hand, cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest test were stained with Annexin V-APC/PI and DNA-cell cycle PI staining respectively by using flow cytometry. Results: The IC50 value was found to be approximately 400 nM. Danusertib at this concentration induced apoptosis in CFPAC-1 cells (%14,8 at 24 hours; %21,3 at 48 hours). Furthermore, in the cells treated with danusertib, 31.77% and 11.05% were arrested in the S and G2 phases, respectively. Conclusions: Aurora kinase inhibitor danusertib induced a significant effect of cytotoxic, apoptotic and cell cycle arrest in CFPAC-1 ductal adenocarcinoma cells. Therefore, it may be a potential alternative to the treatment of pancreatic cancers.