In Silico and In Vitro Anticancer Effects of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester on Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Cells

Abstract

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is an aggressive and fatal malignancy due to the lack of early diagnosis and poor therapeutic response. At this point, determining the anticancer potential of non-toxic natural compounds is essential. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester is a bioactive compound with different activities. In this study, the toxicity of caffeic acid phenethyl ester was estimated by in silico methods in 14 pancreatic cancer cells, and its anticancer activity was evaluated in rat adenocarcinoma cells. According to the in silico results, caffeic acid phenethyl ester had anticancer properties without causing severe toxicity. Subsequently, we investigated the effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester on rat pancreatic cancer (ASML) cells. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester reduced ASML cell viability by up to 27% in a dose-(5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 μM) and time-dependent (24, 48, and 72 h) manner. In the scratch assay, only 80 μM caffeic acid phenethyl ester statistically considerably inhibited ASML cell migration at 24 h. On the other hand, at 48 hours, all doses of caffeic acid phenethyl ester statistically remarkably decreased cell migration. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester also decreased ASML colony numbers at 5 μM and 10 μM compared to the control and completely suppressed colony formation at ≥ 20 μM. Our results revealed that caffeic acid phenethyl ester showed anticancer potential against human and mouse pancreatic cancer cells in silico and significantly inhibited the viability, migration, and colony formation of ASML cells in vitro. © 2023 Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ankara (FABAD). All rights reserved.