Combined effect of panaxynol and gemcitabine on pancreatic cancer stem cell differentiation and proliferation
YANG Pei-ru1, SONG Lian2, ZHANG Li-rong2， ZHU Hai-tao2, WANG Dong-qing2
( 1. School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang Jiangsu 212013; 2. Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang Jiangsu 212001, China）
Abstract：Objective: To investigate the combined efficacy of panaxynol and gemcitabine on the differentiation and proliferation of pancreatic cancer stem cells in vitro.Methods: Pancreatic cancer cells were cultured in cancer stem cell culture system, then the PANC-1 cancer stem cells were selectively collected. Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorting(FACS) technique was used to sort out the CD133 positive(CD133+) subpopulation in PANC-1 cancer stem cell culture system. The sorted CD133+ population was divided into 4 treatment groups, which were PBS control group, panaxynol group, gemcitabine group and panaxynol plus gemcitabine group, with the final concentration of 164 μmol/L and 2 μmol/L of panaxynol and gemcitabine, respectively. FACS was used to figure out the ratio of CD133+ cells in the groups; CCK-8 analysis was used to measure the proliferation rate of each experiment group; Annexin-V/PI staining assay was used to detect apoptosis level in the cancer stem cells; Western blotting technique was used to determine the changes of protein expression in proliferation associated protein Ki-67 and apoptosis associated protein Bcl-2. Results: After the treatment of 48 h, the CD133+ cells ratio in panaxynol group, gemcitabine group and panaxynol plus gemcitabine group were lower compared to the PBS control group. The decrease of CD133+ cells in the combined drug group was even more dramatic(P<0.01); panaxynol and gemicitabine could inhibit growth of the PANC-1 cancer stem cells, and the combination of these two drugs could exert an even stronger effect, including more apoptosis(P<0.01)and dramatically decreased the protein expression of Ki-67 and Bcl-2. Conclusion: Panaxynol plus gemcitabine can promote the in vitro differentiation of pancreatic cancer stem cells and inhibit the cell viability through inhibiting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis.
［Key words］panaxynol; gemcitabine; pancreatic cancer stem cell; proliferation; apoptosis
2019, Vol. 29 
