Expression profiling of pitavastatin in a tumor-immune model in vitro

We developed a phenotypic screening platform that identified statins as enhancers of immune cell-induced cancer cell death. Statins are currently gaining interest as repurposing candidates for use in oncology as increasing evidence supports that statins exert anti-cancer effects. Considering also our findings, the clinical benefits described for cancer patients receiving statins might be due to a combined effect on both cancer- and immune cells. Studying gene expression profiles is a well established approach for investigating a compound's mode of action. We performed transcriptome-wide gene expression profiling on the human colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Monocultured and co-cultured cells were treated with DMSO vehicle or pitavastatin (1µM or 10µM) for 24 hours before gene expression was analyzed using a Human Clariom S array. The colorectal cancer cell line HCT116-GFP and PBMCs were cultured as monocultures or co-cultured. Monocultures and co-cultures were treated with DMSO vehicle or pitavastatin (1µM or 10µM) for 24h. Differentially expressed genes in pitavastatin-treated cells compared to DMSO were then analysed in the different cultures.