Plk1 inhibition enhances the efficacy of gemcitabine in human pancreatic cancer

ABSTRACT: Gemcitabine is the standard-of-care for chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and it can directly incorporate into DNA or inhibit ribonucleotide reductase to prevent DNA replication and, thus, tumor cell growth. Most pancreatic tumors, however, develop resistance to gemcitabine. Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1), a critical regulator in many cell cycle events, is significantly elevated in human pancreatic cancer. In this study, we show that Plk1 is required for the G1/S transition and that inhibition of Plk1 significantly reduces the DNA synthesis rate in human pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, the combined effect of a specific Plk1 inhibitor GSK461364A with gemcitabine was examined. We show that inhibition of Plk1 significantly potentiates the anti-neoplastic activity of gemcitabine in both cultured pancreatic cancer cells and Panc1-derived orthotopic pancreatic cancer xenograft tumors. Overall, our study demonstrates that co-targeting Plk1 can significantly enhance the efficacy of gemcitabine, offering a promising new therapeutic option for the treatment of gemcitabine-resistant human pancreatic cancer.