PPAR gamma ligand (thiazolidinedione) induces growth arrest and differentiation markers of human pancreatic cancer cells

The aim of this study was to examine whether a specific PPAR gamma ligand c an inhibit the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells through induction of terminal differentiation. PPAR gamma was expressed in five human pancreati c cancer cell lines: Capan-1, AsPC-1, BxPC-3, PANC-1, and MIA PaCa-2. Treat ment of these cells with a specific PPAR gamma ligand, thiazolidinedione (T ZD), resulted in inhibition of both cellular and clonogenic growth, and G(1 ) cell cycle arrest. Finally, thiazolidinedione treatment resulted in induc tion of p21(WAF-1) and increased expression of differentiation markers. The se results suggest that thiazolidinedione treatment inhibits growth and ind uces cellular differentiation in pancreatic cancer cells and thereby reduce s their development in favor of differentiated and stable cell phenotype.