Abstract
In the present study, we investigated the potential activity of OSI-027, a potent and selective mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1/2 (mTORC1/2) dual inhibitor, against pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that OSI-027 inhibited survival and growth of both primary and transformed (PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 lines) human pancreatic cancer cells. Meanwhile, OSI-027 induced caspase-dependent apoptotic death of the pancreatic cancer cells. On the other hand, caspase inhibitors alleviated cytotoxicity by OSI-027. At the molecular level, OSI-027 treatment blocked mTORC1 and mTORC2 activation simultaneously, without affecting ERK-mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Importantly, OSI-027 activated cytoprotective autophagy in the above cancer cells. Whereas pharmacological blockage of autophagy or siRNA knockdown of Beclin-1 significantly enhanced the OSI-027-induced activity against pancreatic cancer cells. Specifically, a relatively low dose of OSI-027 sensitized gemcitabine-induced pancreatic cancer cell death in vitro. Further, administration of OSI-027 or together with gemcitabine dramatically inhibited PANC-1 xenograft growth in severe combined immunodeficiency mice, leading to significant mice survival improvement. In summary, the preclinical results of this study suggest that targeting mTORC1/2 synchronously by OSI-027 could be further investigated as a valuable treatment for pancreatic cancer.