Large pan-cancer cell screen coupled to (phospho-)proteomics underscores high-dose vitamin C as a potent anti-cancer agent

Abstract

Increasing preclinical and clinical evidence has positioned high-dose vitamin C as a promising anti-cancer treatment that merits more clinical attention. Multiple cytotoxicity mechanisms have been described, including pro-oxidant effects. To contribute to the preclinical understanding of the broad pan-cancer effects of high-dose vitamin C in a global manner, we determined the IC50 of a large panel of cancer cell lines (n=51) representing 7 solid tumour types and generated proteome data. The majority of cell lines were highly sensitive (IC50 range 0.036-10mM, mean 1.7 ± 0.4 mM), well below a clinically achievable dose. The proteome data (>5000 proteins per sample), showed that high sensitivity is associated with proliferation, as indicated by functional enrichment of cell cycle, RNA splicing and chromatin organization, while lower sensitivity is linked to extracellular vesicles, glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism and mitochondria. Moreover, (phospho-)proteome analysis of on-treatment vitamin C effects on four pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells dosed at a range of IC50 values (Hs766 T, 2 mM; Capan-2, 0.6 mM; PANC-1, 0.14 mM and Suit-2, 0.1 mM) revealed, next to cell line specific effects, down-modulation of AKT-MTOR signalling and immune suppressive signalling, while IFN-α response was enhanced upon vitamin C. Altogether, our comprehensive pharmacological and (phospho-)proteome analysis is the first to assess cancer vulnerabilities and effects of vitamin C on a large cancer cell line panel and underscores the potential of high-dose vitamin C as an anti-cancer agent.