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. 2018 Mar 29;10(4):95. doi: 10.3390/cancers10040095

Figure 3.

Figure 3

ICG-001 counteracts survivin and K-Ras pathways, sensitizing human pancreatic cancer cells to conventional therapy. (A) The survivin/luciferase promoter construct (pLuc-6270) was used to evaluate the effects of ICG-001 in BxPC-3, AsPC-1, and PANC-1 cells. Treatment with ICG-001 decreased survivin/luciferase activity in all three cell lines. n = 3, ** p < 0.01, compared to DMSO control. RLA, relative luciferase activity. (B,C) ICG-001 decreased survivin message (relative mRNA expression for DMSO control indicated by red horizontal line) (B) and protein levels (C) in AsPC-1 cells, as shown by RT-qPCR and immunoblot, respectively. However, treatment with gemcitabine caused an increase in survivin message and protein levels. Importantly, ICG-001 counteracted the gemcitabine-mediated increase in survivin message and protein levels. n = 3, ** p < 0.01. D. ICG-001 treatment of AsPC-1 cells for 96 h increased expression of let-7a as assessed by RT-qPCR. n = 3, ** p < 0.01, compared to DMSO control. (E) ICG-001 treatment of AsPC-1 cells for 48 h decreased K-Ras protein levels but increased EGFR levels as assessed by immunoblot. (F) Compared to treatment with a single agent, a combination of gemcitabine and ICG-001 treatment of AsPC-1 cells for 5 days dramatically decreased cell growth and viability as assessed by morphology. Scale bar = 500 µm.