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Mullen NJ, Thakur R, Shukla SK, Chaika NV, Kollala SS, Wang D, He C, Fujii Y, Sharma S, Mulder SE, Sykes DB, Singh PK. ENT1 blockade by CNX-774 overcomes resistance to DHODH inhibition in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Lett 2023; 552:215981. [PMID: 36341997 PMCID: PMC10305837 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2022.215981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Inhibitors of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), a key enzyme for de novo synthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides, have failed in clinical trials for various cancers despite robust efficacy in preclinical animal models. To probe for druggable mediators of DHODH inhibitor resistance, we performed a combination screen with a small molecule library against pancreatic cancer cell lines that are highly resistant to the DHODH inhibitor brequinar (BQ). The screen revealed that CNX-774, a preclinical Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, sensitizes resistant cell lines to BQ. Mechanistic studies showed that this effect is independent of BTK and instead results from inhibition of equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1) by CNX-774. We show that ENT1 mediates BQ resistance by taking up extracellular uridine, which is salvaged to generate pyrimidine nucleotides in a DHODH-independent manner. In BQ-resistant cell lines, BQ monotherapy slowed proliferation and caused modest pyrimidine nucleotide depletion, whereas combination treatment with BQ and CNX-774 led to profound cell viability loss and pyrimidine starvation. We also identify N-acetylneuraminic acid accumulation as a potential marker of the therapeutic efficacy of DHODH inhibitors. In an aggressive, immunocompetent pancreatic cancer mouse model, combined targeting of DHODH and ENT1 dramatically suppressed tumor growth and prolonged mouse survival. Overall, our study defines CNX-774 as a previously uncharacterized ENT1 inhibitor and provides strong proof of concept support for dual targeting of DHODH and ENT1 in pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Mullen
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Ravi Thakur
- Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA
| | - Surendra K Shukla
- Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA
| | - Nina V Chaika
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Sai Sundeep Kollala
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Dezhen Wang
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Chunbo He
- Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA
| | - Yuki Fujii
- Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA
| | - Shikhar Sharma
- Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA
| | - Scott E Mulder
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - David B Sykes
- Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Pankaj K Singh
- Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA; Department of Oncology Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73014, USA; OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA.
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Wright NJ, Lee SY. Recent advances on the inhibition of human solute carriers: Therapeutic implications and mechanistic insights. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2022; 74:102378. [PMID: 35487145 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Solute carriers (SLCs) are membrane transport proteins tasked with mediating passage of hydrophilic molecules across lipid bilayers. Despite the extensive roles played in all aspects of human biology, SLCs remain vastly under-explored as therapeutic targets. In this brief review, we first discuss a few successful cases of drugs that exert their mechanisms of action through inhibition of human SLCs, and introduce select examples of human SLCs that have untapped therapeutic potential. We then highlight two recent structural studies which uncovered detailed structural mechanisms of inhibition exhibited against two different human major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporters of clinical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Wright
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, 303 Research Drive, Durham, NC, 27710, USA. https://twitter.com/@nick_rite
| | - Seok-Yong Lee
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, 303 Research Drive, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
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Abt ER, Rosser EW, Durst MA, Lok V, Poddar S, Le TM, Cho A, Kim W, Wei L, Song J, Capri JR, Xu S, Wu N, Slavik R, Jung ME, Damoiseaux R, Czernin J, Donahue TR, Lavie A, Radu CG. Metabolic Modifier Screen Reveals Secondary Targets of Protein Kinase Inhibitors within Nucleotide Metabolism. Cell Chem Biol 2019; 27:197-205.e6. [PMID: 31734178 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2019.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Biosynthesis of the pyrimidine nucleotide uridine monophosphate (UMP) is essential for cell proliferation and is achieved by the activity of convergent de novo and salvage metabolic pathways. Here we report the development and application of a cell-based metabolic modifier screening platform that leverages the redundancy in pyrimidine metabolism for the discovery of selective UMP biosynthesis modulators. In evaluating a library of protein kinase inhibitors, we identified multiple compounds that possess nucleotide metabolism modifying activity. The JNK inhibitor JNK-IN-8 was found to potently inhibit nucleoside transport and engage ENT1. The PDK1 inhibitor OSU-03012 (also known as AR-12) and the RAF inhibitor TAK-632 were shown to inhibit the therapeutically relevant de novo pathway enzyme DHODH and their affinities were unambiguously confirmed through in vitro assays and co-crystallization with human DHODH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan R Abt
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ethan W Rosser
- Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Matthew A Durst
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Vincent Lok
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Soumya Poddar
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Thuc M Le
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Arthur Cho
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Woosuk Kim
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Liu Wei
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Janet Song
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Capri
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shili Xu
- Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nanping Wu
- Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Roger Slavik
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael E Jung
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Robert Damoiseaux
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; California NanoSystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Johannes Czernin
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Timothy R Donahue
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Arnon Lavie
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; The Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Caius G Radu
- Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ahmanson Translational Imaging Division, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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