[6]-Paradol suppresses proliferation and metastases of pancreatic cancer by decreasing EGFR and inactivating PI3K/AKT signaling

BACKGROUND: The underlying mechanism behind the tumorigenesis and progression of pancreatic cancer is not clear, and treatment failure is generally caused by early metastasis, recurrence, drug resistance and vascular invasion. Exploring novel therapeutic regimens is necessary to overcome drug resistance and improve patients outcomes. METHODS: Functional assays were performed to investigate the role of [6]-Paradol (6-P) in proliferation and metastasis of pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo. The interaction between EGFR and 6-P was tested by KEGG enrichment analysis and molecular docking analysis. qRT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression of EGFR in 6-P treated groups. Involvement of the PI3K/AKT pathway was measured by western blotting. RESULTS: 6-P significantly suppressed pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. KEGG enrichment analysis and molecular docking analysis suggested that there existed certain interaction between EGFR and 6-P. In addition, 6-P obviously decreased EGFR protein expression level but did not change the mRNA expression level of EGFR. 6-P could induce degradation of EGFR through decreasing the protein stability of EGFR and enhancing the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome-dependent degradation, 6-P-mediated EGFR degradation led to inactivation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. However, ectopic expression of EGFR protein resulted in resistance to 6-P-mediated inactivity of PI3K/AKT signaling and inhibition of malignant phenotype of pancreatic cancer. Inversely, erlotinib could enhance the 6-P-mediated anticancer activity. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that 6-P/EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling axis might become one of the potential therapies for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-021-02118-0.