TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmacologic Targeting of TFIIH Suppresses KRAS-Mutant Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Synergizes with TRAIL
AU - Moser, Russell
AU - Annis, James
AU - Nikolova, Olga
AU - Whatcott, Cliff
AU - Gurley, Kay
AU - Mendez, Eduardo
AU - Moran-Jones, Kim
AU - Dorrell, Craig
AU - Sears, Rosalie C.
AU - Kuo, Calvin
AU - Han, Haiyong
AU - Biankin, Andrew
AU - Grandori, Carla
AU - Von Hoff, Daniel D.
AU - Kemp, Christopher J.
N1 - Funding Information:
R. Moser reports grants from NIH-NCI during the conduct of the study. O. Nikolova reports grants from NIH CTD2 during the conduct of the study. R.C. Sears reports grants from NIH during the conduct of the study and personal fees from Novartis and Rappta outside the submitted work. C.J. Kuo reports personal fees from Surrozen, Mozart Therapeutics, and NextVivo outside the submitted work as well as a patent for air–liquid interface tumor culture issued. A.V. Biankin reports personal and institutional financial interest (AstraZeneca, personal and institutional financial interest; MyTomorrows, personal and insti-
Funding Information:
The authors thank members of the Kemp, Mendez, Biankin, and Von Hoff laboratories for helpful discussions. This work was supported by grants U01CA217883, R01CA21428, Canary Foundation, Listwin Foundation, and Gregory Fund to C.J. Kemp, National Foundation for Cancer Research, The Seena Magovitz Foundation, Lee T. Hanley Fund for Pancreatic Cancer Research, and a Stand Up To Cancer-Cancer Research UK-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team Research Grant (SU2C-AACR-DT-20-16) to H. Han and D.D. Von Hoff. The authors would especially like to thank Daniela Gerhard, the Program Director of the NCI Office of Cancer Genomics and the CTD2 Cancer Target Discovery and Development Program for her support of this research.
Publisher Copyright:
©2022 American Association for Cancer Research.
PY - 2022/9/15
Y1 - 2022/9/15
N2 - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) typically presents as metastatic disease at diagnosis and remains refractory to treatment. Next-generation sequencing efforts have described the genomic landscape, classified molecular subtypes, and confirmed frequent alterations in major driver genes, with coexistent alterations in KRAS and TP53 correlating with the highest metastatic burden and poorest outcomes. However, translating this information to guide therapy remains a challenge. By integrating genomic analysis with an arrayed RNAi druggable genome screen and drug profiling of a KRAS/TP53 mutant PDAC cell line derived from a patient-derived xenograft (PDCL), we identified numerous targetable vulnerabilities that reveal both known and novel functional aspects of pancreatic cancer biology. A dependence on the general transcription and DNA repair factor TFIIH complex, particularly the XPB subunit and the CAK complex (CDK7/CyclinH/MAT1), was identified and further validated utilizing a panel of genomically subtyped KRAS mutant PDCLs. TFIIH function was inhibited with a covalent inhibitor of CDK7/12/13 (THZ1), a CDK7/CDK9 kinase inhibitor (SNS-032), and a covalent inhibitor of XPB (triptolide), which led to disruption of the protein stability of the RNA polymerase II subunit RPB1. Loss of RPB1 following TFIIH inhibition led to downregulation of key transcriptional effectors of KRAS-mutant signaling and negative regulators of apoptosis, including MCL1, XIAP, and CFLAR, initiating caspase-8 dependent apoptosis. All three drugs exhibited synergy in combination with a multivalent TRAIL, effectively reinforcing mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. These findings present a novel combination therapy, with direct translational implications for current clinical trials on metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.
AB - Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) typically presents as metastatic disease at diagnosis and remains refractory to treatment. Next-generation sequencing efforts have described the genomic landscape, classified molecular subtypes, and confirmed frequent alterations in major driver genes, with coexistent alterations in KRAS and TP53 correlating with the highest metastatic burden and poorest outcomes. However, translating this information to guide therapy remains a challenge. By integrating genomic analysis with an arrayed RNAi druggable genome screen and drug profiling of a KRAS/TP53 mutant PDAC cell line derived from a patient-derived xenograft (PDCL), we identified numerous targetable vulnerabilities that reveal both known and novel functional aspects of pancreatic cancer biology. A dependence on the general transcription and DNA repair factor TFIIH complex, particularly the XPB subunit and the CAK complex (CDK7/CyclinH/MAT1), was identified and further validated utilizing a panel of genomically subtyped KRAS mutant PDCLs. TFIIH function was inhibited with a covalent inhibitor of CDK7/12/13 (THZ1), a CDK7/CDK9 kinase inhibitor (SNS-032), and a covalent inhibitor of XPB (triptolide), which led to disruption of the protein stability of the RNA polymerase II subunit RPB1. Loss of RPB1 following TFIIH inhibition led to downregulation of key transcriptional effectors of KRAS-mutant signaling and negative regulators of apoptosis, including MCL1, XIAP, and CFLAR, initiating caspase-8 dependent apoptosis. All three drugs exhibited synergy in combination with a multivalent TRAIL, effectively reinforcing mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. These findings present a novel combination therapy, with direct translational implications for current clinical trials on metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.
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U2 - 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-4222
DO - 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-4222
M3 - Article
C2 - 35819261
AN - SCOPUS:85138447771
SN - 0008-5472
VL - 82
SP - 3375
EP - 3393
JO - Cancer Research
JF - Cancer Research
IS - 18
ER -