Direct interaction between caffeic acid phenethyl ester and human neutrophil elastase inhibits the growth and migration of PANC-1 cells

• Published in: Oncology reports Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 3019 - 3025
• Main Authors: Duan, Jianhui, Xiaokaiti, Yilixiati, Fan, Shengjun, Pan, Yan, Li, Xin, Li, Xuejun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01-05-2017; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: alpha 1-Antitrypsin - genetics; alpha 1-Antitrypsin - metabolism; caffeic acid phenethyl ester; Caffeic Acids - pharmacology; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - genetics; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal - metabolism; Catalytic Domain - drug effects; Cell growth; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement - drug effects; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cytotoxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - drug effects; growth; human neutrophil elastase; Humans; Inflammation; Infrared imaging systems; Kinases; Leukocyte Elastase - chemistry; Leukocyte Elastase - metabolism; Medical prognosis; Metastasis; migration; Models, Molecular; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; Neutrophils; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Pancreatic Neoplasms - genetics; Pancreatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Phenylethyl Alcohol - analogs & derivatives; Phenylethyl Alcohol - pharmacology; United States > US
• ISSN: 1021-335X; 1791-2431
• DOI: 10.3892/or.2017.5516

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignant tumors of the digestive system, but the mechanisms of its development and progression are unclear. Inflammation is thought to be fundamental to pancreatic cancer development and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is an active component of honey bee resin or propolis with anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. We investigated the inhibitory effects of CAPE on cell growth and migration induced by human neutrophil elastase (HNE) and report that HNE induced cancer cell migration at low doses and growth at higher doses. In contrast, lower CAPE doses inhibited migration and higher doses of CAPE inhibited the growth induced by HNE. HNE activity was significantly inhibited by CAPE (7.5-120 µM). Using quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting, we observed that CAPE (18-60 µM) did not affect transcription and translation of α1-antitrypsin (α1-AT), an endogenous HNE inhibitor. However, in an in silico drug target docking model, we found that CAPE directly bound to the binding pocket of HNE (25.66 kcal/mol) according to CDOCKER, and the residue of the catalytic site stabilized the interaction between CAPE and HNE as evidenced by molecular dynamic simulation. Response unit (RU) values of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) significantly increased with incremental CAPE doses (7.5-120 µM), indicating that CAPE could directly bind to HNE in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus, CAPE is an effective inhibitor of HNE via direct interaction whereby it inhibits the migration and growth of PANC-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner.