BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer causes tremendous mortality across the globe mainly due to late diagnosis and unavailability of efficient chemotheruptic agents. In the current study the anticancer potential of a plant derived alkaloid, Mahanimbine, was examined against a panel of pancreatic cancer cells.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. Annexin V/PI and DAPI staining were performed to detect apoptosis. Cell cycle distribution was investigated by flow cytometery. Cell migration was detected by wound healing assay and protein expression was checked by western blotting.

RESULTS: The results revealed that Mahanimbine could inhibit the proliferation of the all the pancreatic cancer cells with lower cytoxicity against the normal cells. The IC50 ranged from 3.5 to 64 µM against the pancreatic cancer cell lines. The lowest IC50 of 3.5 µM was observed tor the Capan-2 and SW119 pancreatic cancer cell lines. The anticancer activity of Mahanimbine against the Capan-2 and SW119 cells was found to be due to G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis. Mahanimbine prompted apoptosis was also associated with decline in Bcl-2 and enhancement of the Bax expression. Further, it was observed that Mahanimbine could inhibit the AKT/mTOR and STAT3 signalling pathways in the Capan-2 and SW119 pancreatic cancer cells. The effects of the Mahanimbine were also examined on the migration of the Capan-2 and SW119 pancreatic cancer cells. It was found that Mahanimbine could inhibit the motility and migration of both the pancreatic cancer cell lines.

CONCLUSIONS: We found that Mahanimbine inhibits the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells and as such Mahanimbine may prove beneficial in the management of pancreatic cancer.