Shao W, Li S, Li L, Lin K, Liu X, Wang H, Wang H, Wang D. Chemical genomics reveals inhibition of breast cancer lung metastasis by Ponatinib via c-Jun.
Protein Cell 2019;
10:161-77. [PMID:
29667003 DOI:
10.1007/s13238-018-0533-8]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Metastasis is the leading cause of human cancer deaths. Unfortunately, no approved drugs are available for anti-metastatic treatment. In our study, high-throughput sequencing-based high-throughput screening (HTS2) and a breast cancer lung metastasis (BCLM)-associated gene signature were combined to discover anti-metastatic drugs. After screening of thousands of compounds, we identified Ponatinib as a BCLM inhibitor. Ponatinib significantly inhibited the migration and mammosphere formation of breast cancer cells in vitro and blocked BCLM in multiple mouse models. Mechanistically, Ponatinib represses the expression of BCLM-associated genes mainly through the ERK/c-Jun signaling pathway by inhibiting the transcription of JUN and accelerating the degradation of c-Jun protein. Notably, JUN expression levels were positively correlated with BCLM-associated gene expression and lung metastases in breast cancer patients. Collectively, we established a novel approach for the discovery of anti-metastatic drugs, identified Ponatinib as a new drug to inhibit BCLM and revealed c-Jun as a crucial factor and potential drug target for BCLM. Our study may facilitate the therapeutic treatment of BCLM as well as other metastases.
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