p38β MAP Kinase as a Therapeutic Target for Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to diagnose in its early stage. Molecular marker and imaging have not proven to be accurate modalities for screening of pancreatic cancer. This study aims to develop p38 beta as a protein marker for pancreatic cancer and to design peptide inhibitor against the same. The serum p38 beta level of pancreatic cancer (n = 35; 5.06 mu g/mL) was twofold higher compared to that of the chronic pancreatitis (n = 10; 2.92 mu g/mL) and matched normal control (n = 10; 2.86 mu g/ml) (p < 0.0005). Peptide inhibitors were designed to inhibit the activity of p38 beta and the kinetic assay had shown the dissociation constant, (KD) to be 3.16 X 10-8 M and IC50, 25 nM by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and Enzyme -Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), respectively. The peptide inhibitor also significantly reduced viability and induced cytotoxicity in Human Pancreatic carcinoma epithelial-like cell line (PANC-1) cells.