Dasabuvir suppresses esophageal squamous cell carcinoma growth in vitro and in vivo through targeting ROCK1

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an upper gastrointestinal cancer with high morbidity and mortality. New strategies are urgently needed to prolong patients’ survival. Through screening of FDA-approved drugs, we found dasabuvir, a drug approved for hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, suppresses ESCC proliferation. Dasabuvir could inhibit the growth of ESCC cells in a time and dose-dependent manner and arrested cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. The antitumor activity was further validated in vivo using a patient-derived xenograft tumor model in mice. In terms of mechanism, we unveiled that dasabuvir is a Rho-associated protein kinase 1 (ROCK1) inhibitor. Dasabuvir can bind to ROCK1 and suppress its kinase activity, thus downregulating phosphorylation of ERK1/2 by ROCK1 and expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) and cyclin D1. These results provide evidence that dasabuvir suppresses ESCC growth in vivo and in vitro through blocking ROCK1/ERK signaling pathway.