Gemcitabine‑fucoxanthin combination in human pancreatic cancer cells

Jun Lu; Xiaowu Jenifer Wu; Amira Hassouna; Kelvin Sheng Wang; Yan Li; Tao Feng; Yu Zhao; Minfeng Jin; Baohong Zhang; Tianlei Ying; Jinyao Li; Lufeng Cheng; Johnson Liu; Yue Huang

doi:10.3892/br.2023.1629

Gemcitabine‑fucoxanthin combination in human pancreatic cancer cells

Biomed Rep. 2023 Jun 1;19(1):46. doi: 10.3892/br.2023.1629. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Jun Lu^{1

2

3

4

5}, Xiaowu Jenifer Wu², Amira Hassouna⁶, Kelvin Sheng Wang², Yan Li², Tao Feng¹, Yu Zhao⁷, Minfeng Jin⁷, Baohong Zhang⁸, Tianlei Ying⁹, Jinyao Li¹⁰, Lufeng Cheng¹¹, Johnson Liu¹², Yue Huang¹³

Affiliations

¹ College of Perfume and Aroma Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, P.R. China.
² Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
³ College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518071, P.R. China.
⁴ College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710119, P.R. China.
⁵ Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand.
⁶ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 11956, Egypt.
⁷ College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, P.R. China.
⁸ School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P.R. China.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology of MOE/MOH, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, P.R. China.
¹⁰ Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830046, P.R. China.
¹¹ Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, P.R. China.
¹² School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
¹³ Shanghai Business School, Fengxian, Shanghai 201499, P.R. China.

Abstract

Gemcitabine is a chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer treatment. It has also been demonstrated to inhibit human pancreatic cancer cell lines, MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1. The aim of the present study was to investigate the suppressive effect of fucoxanthin, a marine carotenoid, in combination with gemcitabine on pancreatic cancer cells. MTT assays and cell cycle analysis using flow cytometry were performed to study the mechanism of action. The results revealed that combining a low dose of fucoxanthin with gemcitabine enhanced the cell viability of human embryonic kidney cells, 293, while a high dose of fucoxanthin enhanced the inhibitory effect of gemcitabine on the cell viability of this cell line. In addition, the enhanced effect of fucoxanthin on the inhibitory effect of gemcitabine on PANC-1 cells was significant (P<0.01). Fucoxanthin combined with gemcitabine also exerted significant enhancement of the anti-proliferation effect in MIA PaCa-2 cells in a concentration dependent manner (P<0.05), compared with gemcitabine treatment alone. In conclusion, fucoxanthin improved the cytotoxicity of gemcitabine on human pancreatic cancer cells at concentrations that were not cytotoxic to non-cancer cells. Thus, fucoxanthin has the potential to be used as an adjunct in pancreatic cancer treatment.

Keywords: combination therapy; fucoxanthin; gemcitabine; nutraceutical; pancreatic cancer cells.

Grants and funding

Funding: The present study was supported by the New Zealand-China Tripartite Partnership Fund (to JLu, JLi, BZ and TY) of the New Zealand Ministry of Education, the Royal Society of New Zealand Catalyst Seeding Fund (grant no. 21-AUT-005-CSG), and the Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Plant Germplasm Resources (grant no. 17DZ2252700).