Abstract PO-031: Repurposing of alexidine dihydrochloride as an apoptosis-initiator and cell cycle inhibitor in human pancreatic cancer

Purpose: Highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy, pancreatic cancers are the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the western world. The absence of effective chemotherapeutics is leading researchers to develop novel drugs or repurpose existing chemicals. Alexidine dihydrochloride (AD), an orally bioavailable bis-biguanide compound, is an apoptosis stimulating reagent. It induces mitochondrial damage by inhibiting a mitochondrial-specific protein tyrosine phosphatase, PTPMT1. The aim of this study was to test AD as a novel compound to induce apoptosis in a human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines, Panc-1, MIA PaCa-2, AsPC-1, and Psn-1. Methods: After IC50 value of the AD was determined by cytotoxicity assay, apoptosis was observed by a variety of methods including the detection of early apoptosis marker Annexin V and the proteomic profile screening by apoptosis array. Multicaspase and mitochondrial depolarization were measured and changes in cell cycle were analyzed. Results: AD is found to initiate apoptosis by activating the intrinsic pathway and inhibit cell cycle in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Conclusions: As a conclusion, considering its anti-cancer properties and bioavailability, Alexidine dihydrochloride can be considered as a potential candidate against pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Citation Format: Ezgi Kasikci, Esra Aydemir, Bekir Mustafa Yogurtcu, Fikrettin Sahin, Omer Faruk Bayrak. Repurposing of alexidine dihydrochloride as an apoptosis-initiator and cell cycle inhibitor in human pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2020 Sep 29-30. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(22 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-031.