Faculty Bibliography

Drug resistance is a central challenge of cancer therapy that ultimately leads to treatment failure. In this study, we characterized a mechanism of drug resistance that arises to AZD6244, an established mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK) 1/2 inhibitor currently being evaluated in cancer clinical trials. AZD6244 enhanced the expression of transcription factor FOXO3a, which suppressed cancer cell proliferation. In AZD6244-resistant cancer cells, we observed the impaired nuclear localization of FOXO3a, reduced FOXO3a-mediated transcriptional activity, and decreased the expression of FOXO3a target gene Bim after cell treatment with AZD6244. Resistant cells could be sensitized by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT inhibitors, which are known to enhance FOXO3a nuclear translocation. Our findings define FOXO3a as candidate marker to predict the clinical efficacy of AZD6244. Furthermore, they suggest a mechanism of resistance to MEK inhibitors that may arise in the clinic yet can be overcome by cotreatment with PI3K/AKT inhibitors.

Accumulating evidence implicates heterogeneity within cancer cell populations in the response to stressful exposures, including drug treatments. While modeling the acute response to various anticancer agents in drug-sensitive human tumor cell lines, we consistently detected a small subpopulation of reversibly "drug-tolerant" cells. These cells demonstrate >100-fold reduced drug sensitivity and maintain viability via engagement of IGF-1 receptor signaling and an altered chromatin state that requires the histone demethylase RBP2/KDM5A/Jarid1A. This drug-tolerant phenotype is transiently acquired and relinquished at low frequency by individual cells within the population, implicating the dynamic regulation of phenotypic heterogeneity in drug tolerance. The drug-tolerant subpopulation can be selectively ablated by treatment with IGF-1 receptor inhibitors or chromatin-modifying agents, potentially yielding a therapeutic opportunity. Together, these findings suggest that cancer cell populations employ a dynamic survival strategy in which individual cells transiently assume a reversibly drug-tolerant state to protect the population from eradication by potentially lethal exposures.

This perspective on Deng et al. (beginning on p. 424 in this issue of the journal) examines the link between NF-kappaB and lung tumorigenesis. Experiments in genetically engineered mouse models of lung cancers are elucidating protumorigenic roles of NF-kappaB activation in lung cancer pathogenesis. Our growing understanding of the tumor-promoting NF-kappaB downstream effector pathways could lead to the development of novel approaches for lung cancer therapy and chemoprevention.

ErbB3 is a critical activator of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR; ErbB1), ErbB2 [human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)], and [hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET)] addicted cancers, and reactivation of ErbB3 is a prominent method for cancers to become resistant to ErbB inhibitors. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo efficacy of a therapeutic anti-ErbB3 antibody, MM-121. We found that MM-121 effectively blocked ligand-dependent activation of ErbB3 induced by either EGFR, HER2, or MET. Assessment of several cancer cell lines revealed that MM-121 reduced basal ErbB3 phosphorylation most effectively in cancers possessing ligand-dependent activation of ErbB3. In those cancers, MM-121 treatment led to decreased ErbB3 phosphorylation and, in some instances, decreased ErbB3 expression. The efficacy of single-agent MM-121 was also examined in xenograft models. A machine learning algorithm found that MM-121 was most effective against xenografts with evidence of ligand-dependent activation of ErbB3. We subsequently investigated whether MM-121 treatment could abrogate resistance to anti-EGFR therapies by preventing reactivation of ErbB3. We observed that an EGFR mutant lung cancer cell line (HCC827), made resistant to gefitinib by exogenous heregulin, was resensitized by MM-121. In addition, we found that a de novo lung cancer mouse model induced by EGFR T790M-L858R rapidly became resistant to cetuximab. Resistance was associated with an increase in heregulin expression and ErbB3 activation. However, concomitant cetuximab treatment with MM-121 blocked reactivation of ErbB3 and resulted in a sustained and durable response. Thus, these results suggest that targeting ErbB3 with MM-121 can be an effective therapeutic strategy for cancers with ligand-dependent activation of ErbB3.

Endometrial cancer--the most common malignancy of the female reproductive tract--arises from the specialized epithelial cells that line the inner surface of the uterus. Although significant advances have been made in our understanding of this disease in recent years, one significant limitation has been the lack of a diverse genetic toolkit for the generation of mouse models. We identified a novel endometrial-specific gene, Sprr2f, and developed a Sprr2f-Cre transgene for conditional gene targeting within endometrial epithelium. We then used this tool to generate a completely penetrant Lkb1 (also known as Stk11)-based mouse model of invasive endometrial cancer. Strikingly, female mice with homozygous endometrial Lkb1 inactivation did not harbor discrete endometrial neoplasms, but instead underwent diffuse malignant transformation of their entire endometrium with rapid extrauterine spread and death, suggesting that Lkb1 inactivation was sufficient to promote the development of invasive endometrial cancer. Mice with heterozygous endometrial Lkb1 inactivation only rarely developed tumors, which were focal and arose with much longer latency, arguing against the idea--suggested by some prior studies--that Lkb1 is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. Lastly, the finding that endometrial cancer cell lines were especially sensitive to the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) inhibitor rapamycin prompted us to test its efficacy against Lkb1-driven endometrial cancers. Rapamycin monotherapy not only greatly slowed disease progression, but also led to striking regression of pre-existing tumors. These studies demonstrate that Lkb1 is a uniquely potent endometrial tumor suppressor, but also suggest that the clinical responses of some types of invasive cancers to mTOR inhibitors may be linked to Lkb1 status.

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is activated in a variety of different human cancers, and inhibitors of this pathway are under active development as anti-cancer therapeutics. In this review, we discuss the data supporting the use of PI3K pathway inhibitors in genetically and clinically defined cancers. This review focuses on their efficacy as single agents and in combination with other targeted therapies, specifically those targeting the MEK-ERK signaling pathway.

We have previously shown clinical activity of a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 inhibitor in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). However, 50% of patients did not respond to therapy. We therefore examined mechanisms of activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR in WM, and mechanisms of overcoming resistance to therapy. We first demonstrated that primary WM cells show constitutive activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, supported by decreased expression of phosphate and tensin homolog tumor suppressor gene (PTEN) at the gene and protein levels, together with constitutive activation of Akt and mTOR. We illustrated that dual targeting of the PI3K/mTOR pathway by the novel inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 showed higher cytotoxicity on WM cells compared with inhibition of the PI3K or mTOR pathways alone. In addition, NVP-BEZ235 inhibited both rictor and raptor, thus abrogating the rictor-induced Akt phosphorylation. NVP-BEZ235 also induced significant cytotoxicity in WM cells in a caspase-dependent and -independent manner, through targeting the Forkhead box transcription factors. In addition, NVP-BEZ235 targeted WM cells in the context of bone marrow microenvironment, leading to significant inhibition of migration, adhesion in vitro, and homing in vivo. These studies therefore show that dual targeting of the PI3K/mTOR pathway is a better modality of targeted therapy for tumors that harbor activation of the PI3K/mTOR signaling cascade, such as WM.

The clinical efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibitors in EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is limited by the development of drug-resistance mutations, including the gatekeeper T790M mutation. Strategies targeting EGFR T790M with irreversible inhibitors have had limited success and are associated with toxicity due to concurrent inhibition of wild-type EGFR. All current EGFR inhibitors possess a structurally related quinazoline-based core scaffold and were identified as ATP-competitive inhibitors of wild-type EGFR. Here we identify a covalent pyrimidine EGFR inhibitor by screening an irreversible kinase inhibitor library specifically against EGFR T790M. These agents are 30- to 100-fold more potent against EGFR T790M, and up to 100-fold less potent against wild-type EGFR, than quinazoline-based EGFR inhibitors in vitro. They are also effective in murine models of lung cancer driven by EGFR T790M. Co-crystallization studies reveal a structural basis for the increased potency and mutant selectivity of these agents. These mutant-selective irreversible EGFR kinase inhibitors may be clinically more effective and better tolerated than quinazoline-based inhibitors. Our findings demonstrate that functional pharmacological screens against clinically important mutant kinases represent a powerful strategy to identify new classes of mutant-selective kinase inhibitors.

Non-small cell lung cancers with activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are highly responsive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as gefitinib and erlotinib. Such cancers are "addicted" to EGFR, and treatment with a TKI invariably leads to down-regulation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR and MEK-ERK signaling pathways, resulting in apoptosis. Using a dual PI3K-mTOR inhibitor, NVP-BEZ235, we evaluated whether PI3K-mTOR inhibition alone induced apoptosis in these cancers. In contrast to HER2-amplified breast cancers, we found that PI3K-mTOR inhibition did not promote substantial apoptosis in the EGFR mutant lung cancers. However, blocking both PI3K-mTOR and MEK simultaneously led to apoptosis to similar levels as the EGFR TKIs, suggesting that down-regulation of these pathways may account for much of the apoptosis promoted by EGFR inhibition. In EGFR mutant lung cancers, down-regulation of both intracellular pathways converged on the BH3 family of proteins regulating apoptosis. PI3K inhibition led to down-regulation of Mcl-1, and MEK inhibition led to up-regulation of BIM. In fact, down-regulation of Mcl-1 by siRNA was sufficient to sensitize these cancers to single-agent MEK inhibitors. Surprisingly, an AKT inhibitor did not decrease Mcl-1 levels, and when combined with MEK inhibitors, failed to induce apoptosis. Importantly, we observed that the combination of PI3K-mTOR and MEK inhibitors effectively shrunk tumors in a transgenic and xenograft model of EGFR T790M-L858R cancers. These data indicate simultaneous inhibition of PI3K-mTOR and MEK signaling is an effective strategy for treating EGFR mutant lung cancers, including those with acquired resistance to EGFR TKIs.