AUTHOR=Al-Hassan Jassim M. , Wei Daoyan , Chakraborty Sharmistha , Conway Tara , Rhea Patrea , Wei Bo , Tran Megan , Gagea Mihai , Afzal Mohammad , Oommen Sosamma , Nair Divya , Paul Bincy M. , Yang Peiying 

TITLE=Fraction B From Catfish Epidermal Secretions Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells, Inhibits CD44 Expression and Stemness, and Alters Cancer Cell Metabolism

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.659590

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.659590

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer related death in western countries. The successful treatment of PDAC remained limited. We investigated the effect of Fraction B, a fraction containing proteins and lipids purified from catfish (Arius bilineatus, Val.) skin secretions on pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) both in-vivo and in-vitro. We report here that Fraction B potently suppressed the growth of both human/mouse derived pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro and significantly reduced the growth of their relevant xenograft (Panc-02) and orthotopic tumor (human Panc-1 cells) (P < 0.05). The RPPA data obtained from the tumor tissue derived from orthotopic tumor bearing mice, treated with Fraction B shows that Fraction B alters the cancer stem cells related pathways and regulates glucose and glutamine metabolism.  The down-regulation of the cancer stem cell markers CD44 expression was further confirmed in Panc-1 cells.  CBC and blood chemistry analysis showed no systemic toxicity in Fraction B treated Panc-1 tumor bearing mice compared to that of control group. Our data supports that Fraction B is a potential candidate for PDAC treatment.