Bisphosphonates and statins are known to have antitumor activities against different types of cancer cell lines. In the present study, we investigated the antiproliferative effects of the combination of zoledronic acid (ZOL), a bisphophosphonate, and fluvastatin (FLU), a statin, in vitro on two types of human pancreatic cancer cell lines, Mia PaCa-2 and Suit-2. The pancreatic cancer cell lines were treated with ZOL and FLU both individually and in combination to evaluate their antiproliferative effects using WST-8 cell proliferation assay. In this study, we demonstrated a potent synergistic antiproliferative effect of both drugs when used in combination in both cell lines. Moreover, we studied the molecular mechanism behind this synergistic effect, which was inhibited by the addition of the mevalonate pathway products, farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). Furthermore, we aimed to determine the effect of ZOL and FLU combination on RhoA and Ras guanosine 5′-triphosphate (GTP)-proteins. The combination induced a marked accumulation in RhoA and unprenylated Ras. GGPP and FPP reversed the increase in the amount of both proteins. These results indicated that the combination treatment impaired RhoA and Ras signaling pathway by the inhibition of geranylgeranylation and/or farnesylation. This study provides a potentially effective approach for the treatment of pancreatic cancer using a combination treatment of ZOL and FLU.Key words pancreatic cancer; zoledronic acid; fluvastatin; combination treatment; synergistic Pancreatic cancer is known to be the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality in Japan and considered to be one of the most aggressive malignancies. 1) Moreover, patients treated with surgical interventions usually develop tumor relapse and/or liver metastasis.2) Gene mutations, including K-ras, CDKN2A (p16), and TRP53, are often associated with pancreatic cancer.3) Previous studies have shown that blocking and/or depriving cells of K-ras may be a promising way to treat pancreatic cancer. 4,5) Although gemcitabine has been considered the standard care treatment for pancreatic cancer, 6) its clinical use remains limited. Therefore, the development of new therapeutic strategies is needed.The third-generation nitrogen bisphosphonates (NBPs) are currently considered a key therapy for the treatment of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, bone metastasis, and malignant skeletal-related diseases. 7) NBPs have also shown direct antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on solid tumors [8][9][10][11][12] by inhibiting the farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) synthase, a key regulatory enzyme in the mevalonate pathways.13) Impairing the prenylation of small guanosine 5′-triphosphate (GTP) proteins such as Ras, Rab, Rho, and Rac by FPP synthase inhibitors may lead to the loss of many cellular processes.
14)Zoledronic acid (ZOL) is one of the most potent drugs owing to its direct and indirect antitumor effects, 15) and it has been effectively used for the treatment of several cancer cell types...