Investigation of anti-tumor effects of an MLK1 inhibitor in prostate and pancreatic cancers

Yu Ching Fan, Kai Chen Hsu, Tony Eight Lin, Dietmar Zechner, Sung Po Hsu, Yuan Chin Tsai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It was shown that mixed lineage kinase 1 (MLK1) regulates pancreatic cancer growth; however, its role in prostate cancer remains unclear. We showed that MLK1 is a tumor marker in prostate cancer by analyzing clinical gene expression data and identified a novel MLK1 inhibitor (NSC14465) from the compound library of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) using a MLK1 protein structure. The inhibitory effects of MLK1 were validated by an in vitro kinase assay and by monitoring phosphorylation signaling, and the anti-proliferation function was shown in several prostate and pancreatic cancer cell lines. We also demonstrated anti-tumor ability and prevention of cancer-related weight loss in a syngeneic orthotopic mouse model of pancreatic cancer that mim-icked the tumor growth environment in the pancreas. Our results demonstrate that the MLK1 in-hibitor is an anti-tumor agent for malignant prostate and pancreatic cancers.

Original languageEnglish
Article number742
JournalBiology
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021

Keywords

  • Androgen receptor
  • MLK1
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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