The Combination of the CIGB-300 Anticancer Peptide and Cisplatin Modulates Proteins Related to Cell Survival, DNA Repair and Metastasis in a Lung Cancer Cell Line Model

Background: CIGB-300 is a pro-apoptotic peptide that abrogates CK2-mediated phosphorylation, and can elicit synergistic interaction in vitro and in vivo when combined with certain anticancer drugs. Objective: The combination of CIGB-300 with cisplatin is studied through data mining and expression based proteomics to reveal the molecular basis of this interaction. Cisplatin resistance-associated proteins, which have also been reported as CK2 substrates, were first identified by bioinformatic analyses. Methods: Data from these analyses suggested that the cisplatin resistance phenotype could be directly improved by inhibiting CK2 phosphorylation on specific substrates. Furthermore, 157 proteins were differentially modulated on the NCI-H125 lung cancer cell line in response to CIGB-300, cisplatin or both drugs as determined by LC-MS/MS. Results: The expression of 28 cisplatin resistance-associated proteins was changed when cisplatin was combined with CIGB-300. Overall, the proteins identified arc also related to cell survival, cell proliferation and metastasis. Furthermore, the CIGB-300 regulated proteome revealed proteins that were initially involved in the mechanism of action of CIGB-300 and cisplatin as single agents. Conclusion: This is the first report describing the protein array modulated by combining CIGB-300 and cisplatin that will support the rationale for future clinical settings based on a multi-target cancer therapy.