Abstract 3463: Nischarin agonist rilmenidine inhibits pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell migration and invasion
Authors: Pavlovic Marijana , Ostojic Marija , Zivic Kristina , Pavic Aleksandar , Srdic-Rajic Tatjana , Grahovac Jelena 
Published: June 2022

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive lethal malignancy due to the lack of early diagnosis and limited response to all treatment modalities. Early metastatic dissemination, rich desmoplastic stroma and immunosuppressive infiltrate are some of the features contributing to the poor prognosis of PDAC patients (5-year survival rate of less than 10%). Despite scientific progress in the development of new therapeutic regimes, PDAC patients in low- and middle-income countries have restricted access to high-cost innovative drugs. Recently, attention has been given to the concept of drug repurposing that could meet the need for novel but affordable and widely accessible therapies. Imidazoline receptor 1 Nischarin (NISCH, IR1, IRAS) is an integrin α5-interacting protein that acts as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer through modulation of cancer cell motility and survival. Importantly, NISCH has several clinically approved agonists that are used for the treatment of hypertension and are shown to modulate autophagy and reduce inflammation and fibrosis, which makes NISCH a potentially good therapeutic target for defying PDAC progression. Based on our GSEA analysis of NISCH expression in PDAC patient samples, NISCH was predicted to have an effect on cancer cell focal adhesion assembly and cytoskeletal organization. Therefore, we examined the effects of NISCH agonists on PDAC cells fitness in vitro. A panel of PDAC cell lines was tested in MTT assay to determine the effects of NISCH agonists rilmenidine, clonidine and moxonidine on cell viability. Flow cytometry, western blot and immunofluorescence were used to examine the effects of NISCH agonists on PDAC cell metabolism, migration and cytoskeletal organization. Tg(fli1:EGFP) zebrafish model was used to examine the effects of NISCH agonists on PDAC cell growth and invasion. We found that NISCH was expressed in PDAC cell lines, and that out of the three tested agonists, rilmenidine most potently inhibited cancer cell viability. Treatment with rilmenidine significantly reduced PANC-1, MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3 cell attachment to extracellular matrix (collagen type I and fibronectin) and migratory potential in wound healing and transwell assays. Furthermore, treatment with rilmenidine altered the organization of actin cytoskeleton and focal adhesion assembly, potentially through the reduction of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Importantly, treatment with rilmenidine inhibited invasion of PANC-1 cells in Tg(fli1:EGFP) zebrafish model. With these antimigratory and potentially antimetastatic effects of rilmenidine, our study lays the ground for a more extensive examination of the biological role of NISCH in PDAC progression and implies that its agonists may be good candidates for drug repurposing in this type of cancer.

Citation Format: Marijana Pavlovic, Marija Ostojic, Kristina Zivic, Aleksandar Pavic, Tatjana Srdic-Rajic, Jelena Grahovac. Nischarin agonist rilmenidine inhibits pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell migration and invasion [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3463.