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Bildik G, Gray JP, Mao W, Yang H, Ozyurt R, Orellana VR, De Wever O, Carey MS, Bast RC, Lu Z. DIRAS3 induces autophagy and enhances sensitivity to anti-autophagic therapy in KRAS-driven pancreatic and ovarian carcinomas. Autophagy 2024; 20:675-691. [PMID: 38169324 PMCID: PMC10936598 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2023.2299516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and low-grade ovarian cancer (LGSOC) are characterized by the prevalence of KRAS oncogene mutations. DIRAS3 is the first endogenous non-RAS protein that heterodimerizes with RAS, disrupts RAS clustering, blocks RAS signaling, and inhibits cancer cell growth. Here, we found that DIRAS3-mediated KRAS inhibition induces ROS-mediated apoptosis in PDAC and LGSOC cells with KRAS mutations, but not in cells with wild-type KRAS, by downregulating NFE2L2/Nrf2 transcription, reducing antioxidants, and inducing oxidative stress. DIRAS3 also induces cytoprotective macroautophagy/autophagy that may protect mutant KRAS cancer cells from oxidative stress, by inhibiting mutant KRAS, activating the STK11/LKB1-PRKAA/AMPK pathway, increasing lysosomal CDKN1B/p27 localization, and inducing autophagic gene expression. Treatment with chloroquine or the novel dimeric chloroquine analog DC661 significantly enhances DIRAS3-mediated inhibition of mutant KRAS tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our study demonstrates that DIRAS3 plays a critical role in regulating mutant KRAS-driven oncogenesis in PDAC and LGSOC.Abbreviations: AFR: autophagic flux reporter; ATG: autophagy related; CQ: chloroquine; DCFDA: 2'-7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate; DIRAS3: DIRAS family GTPase 3; DOX: doxycycline; KRAS: KRAS proto-oncogene, LGSOC: low-grade serous ovarian cancer; MiT/TFE: microphthalmia family of transcription factors; NAC: N-acetylcysteine; PDAC: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TFEB: transcription factor EB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gamze Bildik
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Joshua P. Gray
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Weiqun Mao
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Hailing Yang
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rumeysa Ozyurt
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Vivian R. Orellana
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Olivier De Wever
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Belgium; Department of Human Structure and Repair, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Mark S. Carey
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Robert C. Bast
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Zhen Lu
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
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