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Javaid S, Schaefer A, Goodwin CM, Nguyen VV, Massey FL, Pierobon M, Gambrell-Sanders D, Waters AM, Lambert KN, Diehl JN, Hobbs GA, Wood KC, Petricoin EF, Der CJ, Cox AD. Concurrent Inhibition of ERK and Farnesyltransferase Suppresses the Growth of HRAS Mutant Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Mol Cancer Ther 2022; 21:762-774. [PMID: 35247914 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-21-0142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Human papilloma virus (HPV)-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer worldwide with an unmet need for more effective, less toxic treatments. Currently, both the disease and the treatment of HNSCC cause significant mortality and morbidity. Targeted therapies hold new promise for patients with HPV-negative status whose tumors harbor oncogenic HRAS mutations. Recent promising clinical results have renewed interest in the development of farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) as a therapeutic strategy for HRAS-mutant cancers. With the advent of clinical evaluation of the FTI tipifarnib for the treatment of HRAS-mutant HNSCC, we investigated the activity of tipifarnib and inhibitors of HRAS effector signaling in HRAS-mutant HNSCC cell lines. First, we validated that HRAS is a cancer driver in HRAS-mutant HNSCC lines. Second, we showed that treatment with the FTI tipifarnib largely phenocopied HRAS silencing, supporting HRAS as a key target of FTI antitumor activity. Third, we performed reverse-phase protein array analyses to profile FTI treatment-induced changes in global signaling, and conducted CRISPR/Cas9 genetic loss-of-function screens to identify previously unreported genes and pathways that modulate sensitivity to tipifarnib. Fourth, we determined that concurrent inhibition of HRAS effector signaling (ERK, PI3K, mTORC1) increased sensitivity to tipifarnib treatment, in part by overcoming tipifarnib-induced compensatory signaling. We also determined that ERK inhibition could block tipifarnib-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, providing a potential basis for the effectiveness of this combination. Our results support future investigations of these and other combination treatments for HRAS mutant HNSCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sehrish Javaid
- Program in Oral and Craniofacial Biomedicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Antje Schaefer
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Craig M Goodwin
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Victoria V Nguyen
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Frances L Massey
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Mariaelena Pierobon
- Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia
| | | | - Andrew M Waters
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Kathryn N Lambert
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - J Nathaniel Diehl
- Curriculum in Genetics & Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - G Aaron Hobbs
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Kris C Wood
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Emanuel F Petricoin
- Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia
| | - Channing J Der
- Program in Oral and Craniofacial Biomedicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Adrienne D Cox
- Program in Oral and Craniofacial Biomedicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.,Department of Radiation Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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