Ceder S, Eriksson SE, Cheteh EH, Dawar S, Corrales Benitez M, Bykov VJN, Fujihara KM, Grandin M, Li X, Ramm S, Behrenbruch C, Simpson KJ, Hollande F, Abrahmsen L, Clemons NJ, Wiman KG. A thiol-bound drug reservoir enhances APR-246-induced mutant p53 tumor cell death.
EMBO Mol Med 2021;
13:e10852. [PMID:
33314700 PMCID:
PMC7863383 DOI:
10.15252/emmm.201910852]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The tumor suppressor gene TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in cancer. The compound APR-246 (PRIMA-1Met/Eprenetapopt) is converted to methylene quinuclidinone (MQ) that targets mutant p53 protein and perturbs cellular antioxidant balance. APR-246 is currently tested in a phase III clinical trial in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). By in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models, we show that combined treatment with APR-246 and inhibitors of efflux pump MRP1/ABCC1 results in synergistic tumor cell death, which is more pronounced in TP53 mutant cells. This is associated with altered cellular thiol status and increased intracellular glutathione-conjugated MQ (GS-MQ). Due to the reversibility of MQ conjugation, GS-MQ forms an intracellular drug reservoir that increases availability of MQ for targeting mutant p53. Our study shows that redox homeostasis is a critical determinant of the response to mutant p53-targeted cancer therapy.
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