Dataset Information

Targeting Pancreatic Cancer by TAK-981, a SUMOylation Inhibitor that Activates the Immune System and Blocks Cancer Cell Cycle Progression in a Preclinical Model

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has the characteristics of high-density desmoplastic stroma, a distinctive immunosuppressive microenvironment and is profoundly resistant to all forms of chemo and immunotherapy, leading to a 5-year survival rate of 9%. Our study aims to add novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of PDAC. We have studied whether TAK-981, a novel highly selective and potent small molecule inhibitor of the SUMO activating enzyme E1 (SAE) could be used to treat a preclinical syngeneic PDAC mouse model. We found that SUMOylation, a reversible post-translational modification required for cell cycle progression, is increased in PDAC patient samples compared to normal pancreatic tissue. TAK-981 decreased SUMOylation in PDAC cells at the nanomolar range, thereby causing a G2/M cell cycle arrest, mitotic failure and chromosomal segregation defects. TAK-981 efficiently limited tumor burden in the KPC3 syngeneic mouse model without evidence of systemic toxicity. In vivo treatment with TAK-981 enhanced the proportions of activated CD8 T cells and NK cells but transiently decreased B cell numbers in peripheral blood, spleen and lymph nodes. ScRNA sequencing revealed activation of the interferon response upon TAK-981 treatment in lymphocytes including T, B and NK cells. TAK-981 treatment of CD8 T cells ex vivo induced activation of STAT1 and interferon target genes. Our findings indicate that pharmacological inhibition of the SUMO pathway represents a potential strategy to target PDAC via a dual mechanism: inhibiting cancer cell cycle progression and activating anti-tumor immunity by inducing interferon signaling.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE189576 | GEO | 2022/01/11

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a rare, highly heterogeneous type of B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) driven by multiple genetic mutations disrupting cell cycle regulation and DNA damage response. Despite advances in therapy, novel treatment approaches are needed especially for highly proliferative MCL which has a particularly progressive clinical course even in the era of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase therapy. The sumoylation pathway is known to be upregulated in many cancers including lymphoid malignancies. However, little is currently known about the role of the sumoylation pathway and its oncogenic potential in MCL. We found extensive upregulation of the sumoylation pathway in MCL, particularly at the level of the E1 enzymes SAE1 and SAE2, with elevated expression levels of sumoylation enzyme components showing a worse prognosis and a strong positive correlation with cell cycle associated genes. Targeting the sumoylation pathway with TAK-981, a first in class sumoylation inhibitor currently being investigated in a clinical study of B-cell NHL in combination with rituximab (NCT04074330), resulted in potent loss of sumoylation in MCL cells with significant activity in in-vitro and in vivo models of MCL, including ibrutinib resistance cases. We found mitotic dysregulation to be an important, although not all encompassing mechanism of cell death upon loss of sumoylation of TAK-981 in MCL cells. We uncovered a diverse sumoylation program upon mitosis entry that was significantly reduced with TAK-981. Centromeric localization of the well known sumoylation substrate topoisomeraseIIA (TopIIA) was significantly abrogated upon mitosis entry, likely contributing at least in part to the mitotic dysregulation seen in MCL cells. This mechanism is highly relevant as TopIIA is significantly upregulated in MCL with SAE1/2 overexpression. Our study, in addition to the recently described immunomodulatory activity of TAK-981, not only validates SAE1/2 as a therapeutic target in MCL but also opens the door to further mechanistic work to uncover how to best use desumoylation therapy to treat MCL and other lymphoid malignancies.

Dataset Information

Targeting Pancreatic Cancer by TAK-981, a SUMOylation Inhibitor that Activates the Immune System and Blocks Cancer Cell Cycle Progression in a Preclinical Model

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure