Fig. 6

VERU-111 inhibits pancreatic tumor growth. (A) Effect of VERU-111 on AsPC-1 cells derived xenograft tumors in athymic nude mice. Representative images of AsPC-1 cells derived xenograft tumor bearing mice of control and VERU-111 treated group. (B) Line graph showing average tumor volume of control and VERU-111 treatment group different time points. Data shown in the graph represent mean ± SEM of six tumors of each group. (C) Average tumor weight of control and VERU-111 treatment group. (D) Net tumor growth of control and VERU-111 treatment group. Data in bar graph represent mean ± SEM of six tumors in each group. Asterisk (*) denotes the significant value p < 0.05. (E) Representative images of H&E staining of excised xenograft tumors of control (i) and VERU-111 treatment (ii) group. Effect of VERU-111 on the expression of PCNA, βI, βIII, βIVb and βIVb in excised tumor tissues of control (i) and VERU-111 treated (ii) mice as determined by Immunohistochemistry. (F) Effect of VERU-111 on mRNA expression of βI, βIII, βIVb and βIVb in excised xenograft tumors of control and VERU-111 treated mice as determined by qPCR. Bar graph represents fold mRNA expression of βI, βIII, βIVb and βIVb (mean ± SEM; n = 4). Asterisk (*) denotes the significant value p < 0.05. (G) Effect of VERU-111 on the expression of miR-200c in excised xenograft tumors of control and VERU-111 treated mice as determined by qPCR (H) and representative images of in situ hybridization. (I) Proposed model illustrating possible molecular mechanisms of VERU-111 for the inhibition of pancreatic tumor growth. VERU-111 destabilizes microtubule fiber integrality (de-polymerization) via inhibitions of βIII/βIV isotypes, cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, VERU-111 also induces miR-200c expression, which negatively regulates β-tubulin III, leading to apoptosis induction and inhibition of invasion/migration of PanCa cells