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Sánchez-Fdez A, Matilla-Almazán S, Montero JC, Del Carmen S, Abad M, García-Alonso S, Bhattacharya S, Calar K, de la Puente P, Ocaña A, Pandiella A, Esparís-Ogando A. The WNK1-ERK5 route plays a pathophysiological role in ovarian cancer and limits therapeutic efficacy of trametinib. Clin Transl Med 2023; 13:e1217. [PMID: 37029785 PMCID: PMC10082568 DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.1217] [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] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The dismal prognosis of advanced ovarian cancer calls for the development of novel therapies to improve disease outcome. In this regard, we set out to discover new molecular entities and to assess the preclinical effectiveness of their targeting. METHODS Cell lines, mice and human ovarian cancer samples were used. Proteome profiling of human phosphokinases, in silico genomic analyses, genetic (shRNA and CRISPR/Cas9) and pharmacological strategies as well as an ex vivo human preclinical model were performed. RESULTS We identified WNK1 as a highly phosphorylated protein in ovarian cancer and found that its activation or high expression had a negative impact on patients' survival. Genomic analyses showed amplification of WNK1 in human ovarian tumours. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that WNK1 exerted its action through the MEK5-ERK5 signalling module in ovarian cancer. Loss of function, genetic or pharmacological experiments, demonstrated anti-proliferative and anti-tumoural effects of the targeting of the WNK1-MEK5-ERK5 route. Additional studies showed that this pathway modulated the anti-tumoural properties of the MEK1/2 inhibitor trametinib. Thus, treatment with trametinib activated the WNK1-MEK5-ERK5 route, raising the possibility that this effect may limit the therapeutic benefit of ERK1/2 targeting in ovarian cancer. Moreover, in different experimental settings, including an ex vivo patient-derived model consisting of ovarian cancer cells cultured with autologous patient sera, we show that inhibition of WNK1 or MEK5 increased the anti-proliferative and anti-tumour efficacy of trametinib. CONCLUSIONS The present study uncovers the participation of WNK1-MEK5-ERK5 axis in ovarian cancer pathophysiology, opening the possibility of acting on this pathway with therapeutic purposes. Another important finding of the present study was the activation of that signalling axis by trametinib, bypassing the anti-tumoural efficacy of this drug. That fact should be considered in the context of the use of trametinib in ovarian cancer.
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Grants
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), PI15/01180 co-founded by ERDF, "A way to make Europe", and PI19/00840, co-funded by the European Union
- BFU2015-71371-R Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain
- PID2020-115605RB-I00 Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain
- 5P20GM103548 NIGMS NIH HHS
- R21CA259158 National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health
- 5P20GM103548 National Institutes of Health (COBRE Grant)
- CSI146P20 Junta de Castilla y León
- Instituto de salud Carlos III through CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
- ALMOM: Asociación Leonesa de Mujeres Operadas de cáncer de Mama. León, Spain
- ACMUMA: Asociación Ceutí de Mujeres Mastectomizadas. Ceuta, Spain
- UCCTA: Asociación Unidos Contra el Cáncer, Toro y su Alfoz. Toro, Spain
- CRIS Cancer Foundation. Madrid, Spain
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrián Sánchez-Fdez
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sofía Matilla-Almazán
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Montero
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
- Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Sofía Del Carmen
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Mar Abad
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Sara García-Alonso
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Somshuvra Bhattacharya
- Cancer Biology and Immunotherapies Group, Sanford Research, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
| | - Kristin Calar
- Cancer Biology and Immunotherapies Group, Sanford Research, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
| | - Pilar de la Puente
- Cancer Biology and Immunotherapies Group, Sanford Research, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
- Department of Surgery, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
| | - Alberto Ocaña
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit CRIS-Cancer, Hospital Clínico San Carlos and CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain
- Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, Castilla La Mancha, Albacete, Spain
| | - Atanasio Pandiella
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
| | - Azucena Esparís-Ogando
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Salamanca, Spain
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