Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2021; 13(9): 1164-1183
Published online Sep 15, 2021. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i9.1164
Scoparone inhibits pancreatic cancer through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway
Na Li, Fan Yang, Dong-Yan Liu, Jin-Tao Guo, Nan Ge, Si-Yu Sun
Na Li, Department of Hospice Care, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110022, Liaoning Province, China
Fan Yang, Jin-Tao Guo, Nan Ge, Si-Yu Sun, Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Dong-Yan Liu, Medical Research Center, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Benxi 111700, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Li N and Sun SY conceived and designed the study; Li N performed the assays, analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the article; Yang F and Liu DY gave guidance and advice; Ge N and Guo JT revised the article for important intellectual content; all authors performed the final approval of the article.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 817706555; Special Project from the Central Government of Liaoning Province, No. 2018107003; Liaoning Province Medical Science and Technology Achievements Transformation Foundation, No. 2018225120; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, No. 2020M670101ZX; Doctoral Scientific Research Foundation of Liaoning Province, No. 2019-BS-276; Science and Technology Program of Shenyang, No. 19-112-4-103; Youth Support Foundation of China Medical University, No. QGZ2018058; Scientific Fund of Shengjing Hospital, No. 201801; and 345 Talent Project of Shengjing Hospital, No. 52-30C.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee and Ethics Committee of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University (No. 2020PS766K).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal experiments conformed to the internationally accepted principles for the care and use of laboratory animals.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Si-Yu Sun, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No. 36 Sanhao Street, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China. sun-siyu@163.com
Received: March 4, 2021
Peer-review started: March 4, 2021
First decision: April 6, 2021
Revised: April 9, 2021
Accepted: July 5, 2021
Article in press: July 5, 2021
Published online: September 15, 2021
Processing time: 190 Days and 8.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumor whose treatment is not effective, so it is necessary to develop new anti-pancreatic cancer treatments. Scoparone has attracted considerable attention for its antitumor activity.

Research motivation

To explore a new method to develop anti-tumor drugs.

Research objectives

To explore the potential antitumor effect of scoparone on pancreatic cancer and the possible molecular mechanism of action.

Research methods

The target genes of scoparone were determined using the bioinformatics analyses. The effect of scoparone on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, and apoptosis was detected in vitro. The expression of hub genes was tested using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and the molecular mechanism was analyzed using Western blot. The in vivo effect of scoparone on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation was detected using a Xenograft tumor model in nude mice and immunohistochemistry.

Research results

Our findings indicated that scoparone inhibited pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, inhibited migration and invasion, and induced cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Research conclusions

Scoparone inhibits pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and induces cycle arrest and apoptosis through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Research perspectives

Pharmacokinetic analyses of scoparone were not conducted in the present study, thus the clinical applications warrant further investigations.