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Bintener T, Pacheco MP, Philippidou D, Margue C, Kishk A, Del Mistro G, Di Leo L, Moscardó Garcia M, Halder R, Sinkkonen L, De Zio D, Kreis S, Kulms D, Sauter T. Metabolic modelling-based in silico drug target prediction identifies six novel repurposable drugs for melanoma. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:468. [PMID: 37495601 PMCID: PMC10372000 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-05955-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Despite high initial response rates to targeted kinase inhibitors, the majority of patients suffering from metastatic melanoma present with high relapse rates, demanding for alternative therapeutic options. We have previously developed a drug repurposing workflow to identify metabolic drug targets that, if depleted, inhibit the growth of cancer cells without harming healthy tissues. In the current study, we have applied a refined version of the workflow to specifically predict both, common essential genes across various cancer types, and melanoma-specific essential genes that could potentially be used as drug targets for melanoma treatment. The in silico single gene deletion step was adapted to simulate the knock-out of all targets of a drug on an objective function such as growth or energy balance. Based on publicly available, and in-house, large-scale transcriptomic data metabolic models for melanoma were reconstructed enabling the prediction of 28 candidate drugs and estimating their respective efficacy. Twelve highly efficacious drugs with low half-maximal inhibitory concentration values for the treatment of other cancers, which are not yet approved for melanoma treatment, were used for in vitro validation using melanoma cell lines. Combination of the top 4 out of 6 promising candidate drugs with BRAF or MEK inhibitors, partially showed synergistic growth inhibition compared to individual BRAF/MEK inhibition. Hence, the repurposing of drugs may enable an increase in therapeutic options e.g., for non-responders or upon acquired resistance to conventional melanoma treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Bintener
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Maria Pires Pacheco
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Demetra Philippidou
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Christiane Margue
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Ali Kishk
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Greta Del Mistro
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumour Diseases, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Luca Di Leo
- Melanoma Research Team, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maria Moscardó Garcia
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Rashi Halder
- Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Lasse Sinkkonen
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Daniela De Zio
- Melanoma Research Team, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Stephanie Kreis
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg
| | - Dagmar Kulms
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumour Diseases, TU-Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Thomas Sauter
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.
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Van Simaeys D, De La Fuente A, Zilio S, Zoso A, Kuznetsova V, Alcazar O, Buchwald P, Grilli A, Caroli J, Bicciato S, Serafini P. RNA aptamers specific for transmembrane p24 trafficking protein 6 and Clusterin for the targeted delivery of imaging reagents and RNA therapeutics to human β cells. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1815. [PMID: 35383192 PMCID: PMC8983715 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29377-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to detect and target β cells in vivo can substantially refine how diabetes is studied and treated. However, the lack of specific probes still hampers a precise characterization of human β cell mass and the delivery of therapeutics in clinical settings. Here, we report the identification of two RNA aptamers that specifically and selectively recognize mouse and human β cells. The putative targets of the two aptamers are transmembrane p24 trafficking protein 6 (TMED6) and clusterin (CLUS). When given systemically in immune deficient mice, these aptamers recognize the human islet graft producing a fluorescent signal proportional to the number of human islets transplanted. These aptamers cross-react with endogenous mouse β cells and allow monitoring the rejection of mouse islet allografts. Finally, once conjugated to saRNA specific for X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), they can efficiently transfect non-dissociated human islets, prevent early graft loss, and improve the efficacy of human islet transplantation in immunodeficient in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitri Van Simaeys
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Adriana De La Fuente
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Serena Zilio
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Alessia Zoso
- Diabetes Research Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Victoria Kuznetsova
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Oscar Alcazar
- Diabetes Research Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Peter Buchwald
- Diabetes Research Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Andrea Grilli
- Center for Genome Research, Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Jimmy Caroli
- Center for Genome Research, Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Silvio Bicciato
- Center for Genome Research, Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Paolo Serafini
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. .,Diabetes Research Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. .,Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
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Del Mistro G, Riemann S, Schindler S, Beissert S, Kontermann RE, Ginolhac A, Halder R, Presta L, Sinkkonen L, Sauter T, Kulms D. Focal adhesion kinase plays a dual role in TRAIL resistance and metastatic outgrowth of malignant melanoma. Cell Death Dis 2022; 13:54. [PMID: 35022419 PMCID: PMC8755828 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-04502-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Despite remarkable advances in therapeutic interventions, malignant melanoma (MM) remains a life-threating disease. Following high initial response rates to targeted kinase-inhibition metastases quickly acquire resistance and present with enhanced tumor progression and invasion, demanding alternative treatment options. We show 2nd generation hexameric TRAIL-receptor-agonist IZI1551 (IZI) to effectively induce apoptosis in MM cells irrespective of the intrinsic BRAF/NRAS mutation status. Conditioning to the EC50 dose of IZI converted the phenotype of IZI-sensitive parental MM cells into a fast proliferating and invasive, IZI-resistant metastasis. Mechanistically, we identified focal adhesion kinase (FAK) to play a dual role in phenotype-switching. In the cytosol, activated FAK triggers survival pathways in a PI3K- and MAPK-dependent manner. In the nucleus, the FERM domain of FAK prevents activation of wtp53, as being expressed in the majority of MM, and consequently intrinsic apoptosis. Caspase-8-mediated cleavage of FAK as well as FAK knockdown, and pharmacological inhibition, respectively, reverted the metastatic phenotype-switch and restored IZI responsiveness. FAK inhibition also re-sensitized MM cells isolated from patient metastasis that had relapsed from targeted kinase inhibition to cell death, irrespective of the intrinsic BRAF/NRAS mutation status. Hence, FAK-inhibition alone or in combination with 2nd generation TRAIL-receptor agonists may be recommended for treatment of initially resistant and relapsed MM, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Del Mistro
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Shamala Riemann
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sebastian Schindler
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Beissert
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Roland E Kontermann
- Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology and Stuttgart Research Centre Systems Biology, University of Stuttgart, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Aurelien Ginolhac
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Rashi Halder
- Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Luana Presta
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Lasse Sinkkonen
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Thomas Sauter
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Belvaux, 4367, Luxembourg
| | - Dagmar Kulms
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
- National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden, TU-Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
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Bintener T, Pacheco MP, Kishk A, Didier J, Sauter T. Drug Target Prediction Using Context-Specific Metabolic Models Reconstructed from rFASTCORMICS. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2535:221-240. [PMID: 35867234 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2513-2_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Metabolic modeling is a powerful computational tool to analyze metabolism. It has not only been used to identify metabolic rewiring strategies in cancer but also to predict drug targets and candidate drugs for repurposing. Here, we will elaborate on the reconstruction of context-specific metabolic models of cancer using rFASTCORMICS and the subsequent prediction of drugs for repurposing using our drug prediction workflow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Bintener
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Maria Pires Pacheco
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Ali Kishk
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Jeff Didier
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Thomas Sauter
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
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Albrecht M, Lucarelli P, Kulms D, Sauter T. Computational models of melanoma. Theor Biol Med Model 2020; 17:8. [PMID: 32410672 PMCID: PMC7222475 DOI: 10.1186/s12976-020-00126-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Genes, proteins, or cells influence each other and consequently create patterns, which can be increasingly better observed by experimental biology and medicine. Thereby, descriptive methods of statistics and bioinformatics sharpen and structure our perception. However, additionally considering the interconnectivity between biological elements promises a deeper and more coherent understanding of melanoma. For instance, integrative network-based tools and well-grounded inductive in silico research reveal disease mechanisms, stratify patients, and support treatment individualization. This review gives an overview of different modeling techniques beyond statistics, shows how different strategies align with the respective medical biology, and identifies possible areas of new computational melanoma research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Albrecht
- Systems Biology Group, Life Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, 6, avenue du Swing, Belval, 4367 Luxembourg
| | - Philippe Lucarelli
- Systems Biology Group, Life Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, 6, avenue du Swing, Belval, 4367 Luxembourg
| | - Dagmar Kulms
- Experimental Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, Dresden University of Technology, Fetscherstraße 105, Dresden, 01307 Germany
| | - Thomas Sauter
- Systems Biology Group, Life Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, 6, avenue du Swing, Belval, 4367 Luxembourg
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Zhang S, Zheng C, Zhu W, Xiong P, Zhou D, Huang C, Zheng D. A novel anti-DR5 antibody-drug conjugate possesses a high-potential therapeutic efficacy for leukemia and solid tumors. Am J Cancer Res 2019; 9:5412-5423. [PMID: 31410224 PMCID: PMC6691585 DOI: 10.7150/thno.33598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well known that tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand receptor 1 or 2 (DR4/DR5) is specifically expressed in various tumor cells, but less or no expression in most normal cells. Many first generations of TRAIL agonists including recombinant preparations of TRAIL, agonistic antibodies against DR4/DR5 have been developed in phase I/II clinical trials for cancer therapy. However, the outcomes of clinical trials by using DR4/DR5 agonist mono-therapy were disappointed even though the safety profile was well tolerance. In the present study, we report an anti-DR5 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC, named as Zapadcine-1) possesses a higher potential for the therapy of lymphocyte leukemia and solid cancers. Methods: Zapadcine-1 was made by a fully humanized DR5-specific monoclonal antibody (Zaptuzumab) coupled via a cleavable linker to a highly toxic inhibitor of tubulin, monomethyl auristatin D (MMAD), by using ThioBridge technology. Cytotoxicity of the ADC in various tumor cells was identified by luminescent cell viability assay and the efficacy in vivo was determined in cells derived xenografts (CDX) of Jurkat E6-1, BALL-1, Reh, and patient derived xenografts (PDX) of human acute leukemia. Preliminary safety evaluation was carried out in rat and monkey. Results: Zapadcine-1 possesses a similar binding ability to the death receptor DR5 as the naked monoclonal antibody Zaptuzumab, and can be rapidly endocytosed into the lysosome of cancer cells. Zapadcine-1 specifically kills human lymphocyte leukemia cells and solid tumor cells, but not normal cells tested. More importantly, Zapadcine-1 drastically eliminates the xenografts in both CDX and PDX models of human acute leukemia. The excellent and comparable therapeutic efficacy is also observed in lung cancer NCI-H1975 CDX mouse model. The maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of single injected Zapadcine-1 in rat and cynomolgus monkey shows an acceptable safety profile. Conclusion: These data demonstrate a promising anti-cancer activity, meriting further exploration of its potential as a novel cancer therapeutic agent, especially for the acute lymphocyte leukemia.
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