Cyclic phosphatidic acid stimulates cAMP production and inhibits growth in human colon cancer cells

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 25;8(11):e81139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081139. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Colon cancer is a malignancy that develops in colon and rectal tissues. The prognosis for metastatic colon cancer remains poor, and novel therapeutic options are required to reduce colon cancer mortality. Recently, intracellular cAMP levels have been suggested to influence the behavior of cancer cells. Intriguingly, cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA) and its structural analogs inhibit growth in many cancer cell lines, and our previous work has suggested that cPA increases cAMP production. Phosphodiesterase (PDE) type 3 isoforms PDE3A and PDE3B are expressed mainly in cardiovascular tissue and adipose tissue, respectively. Moreover, increase in intracellular cAMP levels has been associated with the inhibition of growth in colon cancer cells. These findings suggest that cPA could be used in colon cancer therapy. In this study, we found that cPA inhibited the growth of HT-29 cells, which express high levels of PDE3B, but not the growth of DLD-1 cells, which express low levels of PDE3B. Furthermore, cPA inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt in HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent fashion. Our results suggest that PDE3B expression and intracellular cAMP levels are correlated with the proliferation of colon cancer cells. These findings demonstrate for the first time that cPA may serve as a useful a molecule in targeted therapy for colon cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Division / drug effects*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / enzymology
  • Colonic Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cyclic AMP / biosynthesis*
  • Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 3 / genetics
  • Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 3 / metabolism
  • HT29 Cells
  • Humans
  • Phosphatidic Acids / pharmacology*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • RNA Interference
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • Phosphatidic Acids
  • Cyclic AMP
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 3

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 22591482 (to TT) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid from Takeda Science Foundation (to TT), Astellas foundation for research on metabolic disorders (to TT) and Nagano Society for the Promotion of Science (to TT). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.