Activation of MAPK signalling results in resistance to saracatinib (AZD0530) in ovarian cancer
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
SRC tyrosine kinase is frequently overexpressed and activated in late-stage, poor prognosis ovarian tumours, and preclinical studies have supported the use of targeted SRC inhibitors in the treatment of this disease. The SAPPROC trial investigated the addition of the SRC inhibitor saracatinib (AZD0530) to weekly paclitaxel for the treatment of platinum resistant ovarian cancer; however, this drug combination did not provide any benefit to progression free survival (PFS) of women with platinum resistant disease. In this study we aimed to identify mechanisms of resistance to SRC inhibitors in ovarian cancer cells. Using two complementary strategies; a targeted tumour suppressor gene siRNA screen, and a phospho-receptor tyrosine kinase array, we demonstrate that activation of MAPK signalling, via a reduction in NF1 (neurofibromin) expression or overexpression of HER2 and the insulin receptor, can drive resistance to AZD0530. Knockdown of NF1 in two ovarian cancer cell lines resulted in resistance to AZD0530, and was accompanied with activated MEK and ERK signalling. We also show that silencing of HER2 and the insulin receptor can partially resensitize AZD0530 resistant cells, which was associated with decreased phosphorylation of MEK and ERK. Furthermore, we demonstrate a synergistic effect of combining SRC and MEK inhibitors in both AZD0530 sensitive and resistant cells, and that MEK inhibition is sufficient to completely resensitize AZD0530 resistant cells. This work provides a preclinical rationale for the combination of SRC and MEK inhibitors in the treatment of ovarian cancer, and also highlights the need for biomarker driven patient selection for clinical trials.
Date Issued
2018-01-12
Date Acceptance
2017-12-01
Citation
Oncotarget, 2018, 9 (4), pp.4722-4736
ISSN
1949-2553
Publisher
Impact Journals
Start Page
4722
End Page
4736
Journal / Book Title
Oncotarget
Volume
9
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
©McGivern et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
3.0 (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited
3.0 (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Oncology
Cell Biology
ovarian cancer
SRC
MAPK
resistance
drug combination
SRC INHIBITION
TRASTUZUMAB RESISTANCE
LUNG-CANCER
CELL-LINES
TYROSINE KINASE
IN-VITRO
NF1 LOSS
PHASE-I
CARCINOMA
GROWTH
Publication Status
Published