Inhibition of HSP 90 is associated with potent anti-tumor activity in Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma

• Authors: Roma Pahwa, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Janhavi Dubhashi, Emory University; Anand Singh, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Parthav Jailwala, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research; Alexei Lobanov, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research; Craig J Thomas, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH, Bethesda; Michele Ceribelli, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH, Bethesda; Kelli Wilson, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH, Bethesda; Christopher J Ricketts, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Cathy D Vocke, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Catherine Wells, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Donald P Bottaro, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Marston W Linehan, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Len Neckers, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda; Ramaprasad Srinivasan, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
• Journal Title: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
• Volume: Volume 41, Number 1
• Publisher: BMC | 2022-06-27, Pages 208-208
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-022-02416-z
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Oncology; High throughput screening; RNA Sequencing; HSP90; Papillary Kidney Cancer; Treatment; PI3K/AKT pathway; MEK/ERK1/2 pathway; E2F/MYC; MET PROTOONCOGENE; PHASE-II; OVEREXPRESSION; CRIZOTINIB; MUTATIONS; CANCER; TUMORS; DESTABILIZATION; SNX-2112; TRIAL

Abstract

Background: There is no universally accepted treatment for patients with advanced papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC). The presence of activating mutations in MET, as well as gain of chromosome 7, where the MET gene is located, are the most common genetic alterations associated with PRCC, leading to the clinical evaluation of MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in this cancer. However, TKIs targeting MET selectively, as well as multitargeted TKIs with activity against MET demonstrate modest efficacy in PRCC and primary and secondary treatment failure is common; other approaches are urgently needed to improve outcomes in these patients. Methods: High throughput screening with small molecule libraries identified HSP90 inhibitors as agents of interest based on antitumor activity against patient derived PRCC cell lines. We investigated the activity of the orally available HSP90 inhibitor, SNX2112 in vitro, using 2D/3D PRCC cell culture models and in vivo, in mice tumor xenograft models. The molecular pathways mediating antitumor activity of SNX2112 were assessed by Western blot analysis, Flow cytometry, RNA-seq analysis, Real Time qPCR and imaging approaches. Results: SNX2112 significantly inhibited cellular proliferation, induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in PRCC lines overexpressing MET. In contrast to TKIs targeting MET, SNX2112 inhibited both MET and known downstream mediators of MET activity (AKT, pAKT1/2 and pERK1/2) in PRCC cell lines. RNAi silencing of AKT1/2 or ERK1/2 expression significantly inhibited growth in PRCC cells. Furthermore, SNX2112 inhibited a unique set of E2F and MYC targets and G2M-associated genes. Interestingly, interrogation of the TCGA papillary RCC cohort revealed that these genes were overexpressed in PRCC and portend a poor prognosis. Finally, SNX-2112 demonstrated strong antitumor activity in vivo and prolonged survival of mice bearing human PRCC xenograft. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that HSP90 inhibition is associated with potent activity in PRCC, and implicate the PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK1/2 pathways as important mediators of tumorigenesis. These data also provide the impetus for further clinical evaluation of HSP90, AKT, MEK or E2F pathway inhibitors in PRCC. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]