Abstract 338: Regulation of gap junction intercellular communication in pancreatic cancer cells

Abstract According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 62,210 people (32,970 men and 29,240 women) in the United States are estimated to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer by the end of 2022. An estimated 80% of these patients will die as a result of pancreatic cancer. This type of cancer has been challenging to treat due to the complexity of tumor cells, tumor aggressiveness, current drug availability, and drug delivery. A new class of substituted quinolines, known as PQ compounds, acts as gap junction enhancer, having the ability to increase the gap junctional intercellular communication cancerous cells. The goal of this project is to provide a new approach to treat pancreatic cancer via restoration of gap junctional intercellular communication and combining treatment with antineoplastic drugs. One approach was to increase cell communication of pancreatic cancer cells using small molecules, PQs, and hence allowing antineoplastic drugs to effectively travel from cell to cell. Pancreatic cancer cells were treated with gap junction enhancers, PQs, in the presence and absence of antineoplastic drugs. Interestingly, 5-FU significantly decreased the expression of gap junction protein, connexin 43, compared to control and PQ1 treatments. PQ1 has demonstrated to increase Cx43 expression and increase 4.5-fold of gap junction activity. Furthermore, cells treated with nilotinib have a significant effect on PANC-1 cells. Current studies focus on functional assays to determine if PQ1 can increase cell-cell communication, allowing a reduced concentration of antineoplastic drugs to be used. Overall, the findings provide an initial insight to a new approach in treating pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: Annelise Nguyen, My Doan. Regulation of gap junction intercellular communication in pancreatic cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 338.