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Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia.

ABSTRACT: Despite high initial response rates, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with the BCL-2-selective inhibitor venetoclax (VEN) alone or in combinations commonly acquires resistance. We performed gene/protein expression, metabolomic and methylation analyses of isogenic AML cell lines sensitive or resistant to VEN, and identified the activation of RAS/MAPK pathway, leading to increased stability and higher levels of MCL-1 protein, as a major acquired mechanism of VEN resistance. MCL-1 sustained survival and maintained mitochondrial respiration in VEN-RE cells, which had impaired electron transport chain (ETC) complex II activity, and MCL-1 silencing or pharmacologic inhibition restored VEN sensitivity. In support of the importance of RAS/MAPK activation, we found by single-cell DNA sequencing rapid clonal selection of RAS-mutated clones in AML patients treated with VEN-containing regimens. In summary, these findings establish RAS/MAPK/MCL-1 and mitochondrial fitness as key survival mechanisms of VEN-RE AML and provide the rationale for combinatorial strategies effectively targeting these pathways.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Q

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8858957 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia.

Zhang Qi Q Riley-Gillis Bridget B Han Lina L Jia Yannan Y Lodi Alessia A Zhang Haijiao H Ganesan Saravanan S Pan Rongqing R Konoplev Sergej N SN Sweeney Shannon R SR Ryan Jeremy A JA Jitkova Yulia Y Dunner Kenneth K Grosskurth Shaun E SE Vijay Priyanka P Ghosh Sujana S Lu Charles C Ma Wencai W Kurtz Stephen S Ruvolo Vivian R VR Ma Helen H Weng Connie C CC Ramage Cassandra L CL Baran Natalia N Shi Ce C Cai Tianyu T Davis Richard Eric RE Battula Venkata L VL Mi Yingchang Y Wang Jing J DiNardo Courtney D CD Andreeff Michael M Tyner Jeffery W JW Schimmer Aaron A Letai Anthony A Padua Rose Ann RA Bueso-Ramos Carlos E CE Tiziani Stefano S Leverson Joel J Popovic Relja R Konopleva Marina M

Signal transduction and targeted therapy 20220221 1

Despite high initial response rates, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with the BCL-2-selective inhibitor venetoclax (VEN) alone or in combinations commonly acquires resistance. We performed gene/protein expression, metabolomic and methylation analyses of isogenic AML cell lines sensitive or resistant to VEN, and identified the activation of RAS/MAPK pathway, leading to increased stability and higher levels of MCL-1 protein, as a major acquired mechanism of VEN resistance. MCL-1 sustained sur ...[more]

PMID: 35185150

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Project description:BackgroundVenetoclax (VTX) is an anticancer drug. It is a selective Bcl-2 inhibitor that is clinically used for the treatment of patients with lymphomas and leukemias. Treatment with VTX, however, is accompanied by severe adverse events such as tumor lysis syndrome and neutropenia, because VTX readily binds to serum proteins, which results in poor pharmacokinetics and poor tumor tissue concentration. To avoid such adverse events, VTX is administered using a daily or weekly ramp-up schedule that is cumbersome in clinical situations.AimsTo overcome these shortcomings, we prepared a novel polyethylene glycol (PEG)-drug conjugate of VTX (PEG-VTX) and evaluated its cytotoxic effects on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) both in vitro and in vivo.Methods and resultsVTX and 4-armed PEG derivatives were covalently attached through an amide bond linker. In a series of in vitro studies, PEG-VTX selectively induced potent growth inhibition of MV4-11 human AML cells via the inducement of Bcl-2-mediated apoptosis. PEG-VTX had the effect of free VTX, presumably due to the protease-mediated release of VTX from the conjugates. In in vivo studies with AML tumor-xenograft mice models, intravenous PEG-VTX promoted sufficient tumor growth suppression. Compared with a regimen of oral free VTX, the intravenous regimen in those studies used a VTX dosage that was 15-30 times smaller for an OCI-AML-2 xenograft model and a dosing regimen that was less frequent for an MV4-11 xenograft model. The most important development, however, was the absence of weight loss related to severe side effects throughout the treatments. An increase in water solubility and the resultant hydrodynamic size of VTX via PEGylation improved the pharmacokinetics of VTX by avoiding protein interactions and lessening the extravasation from blood. The result was an increase in tumor accumulation and a decrease in the nonspecific distribution of VTX.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that PEG-VTX could be an alternative therapeutic option for the safe and effective treatment of patients with AML.

Project description:BackgroundVenetoclax, a small molecule BH3 mimetic which inhibits the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, and idasanutlin, a selective MDM2 antagonist, have both shown activity as single-agent treatments in pre-clinical and clinical studies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this study, we deliver the rationale and molecular basis for the combination of idasanutlin and venetoclax for treatment of p53 wild-type AML.MethodsThe effect of idasanutlin and venetoclax combination on cell viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression was investigated in vitro using established AML cell lines. In vivo efficacy was demonstrated in subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models generated in female nude or non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice. Mode-of-action analyses were performed by means of cell cycle kinetic studies, RNA sequencing as well as western blotting experiments.ResultsCombination treatment with venetoclax and idasanutlin results in synergistic anti-tumor activity compared with the respective single-agent treatments in vitro, in p53 wild-type AML cell lines, and leads to strongly superior efficacy in vivo, in subcutaneous and orthotopic AML models. The inhibitory effects of idasanutlin were cell-cycle dependent, with cells arresting in G1 in consecutive cycles and the induction of apoptosis only evident after cells had gone through at least two cell cycles. Combination treatment with venetoclax removed this dependency, resulting in an acceleration of cell death kinetics. As expected, gene expression studies using RNA sequencing showed significant alterations to pathways associated with p53 signaling and cell cycle arrest (CCND1 pathway) in response to idasanutlin treatment. Only few gene expression changes were observed for venetoclax treatment and combination treatment, indicating that their effects are mediated mainly at the post-transcriptional level. Protein expression studies demonstrated that inhibition of the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 contributed to the activity of venetoclax and idasanutlin, with earlier inhibition of Mcl-1 in response to combination treatment contributing to the superior combined activity. The role of Mcl-1 was confirmed by small hairpin RNA gene knockdown studies.ConclusionsOur findings provide functional and molecular insight on the superior anti-tumor activity of combined idasanutlin and venetoclax treatment in AML and support its further exploration in clinical studies.

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Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia.

Publications

Activation of RAS/MAPK pathway confers MCL-1 mediated acquired resistance to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia.

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