Project description:About half of all melanomas harbor a constitutively active mutant BRAFV600E/K kinase that can be selectively inhibited by targeted BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi). While patients treated with BRAFi initially exhibit measurable clinical improvement, the majority of patients eventually develop drug resistance and relapse. We observe significant elevation of WNT5A in a subset of tumors from patients exhibiting disease progression on BRAFi therapy. WNT5A transcript and protein are also elevated in BRAFi-resistant melanoma cell lines generated by long-term in vitro treatment with BRAFi. RNAi-mediated reduction in levels of endogenous WNT5A in melanoma decreases cell growth, increases apoptosis in response to BRAFi challenge, and decreases the activity of pro-survival AKT signaling. Overexpression of WNT5A conversely promotes melanoma growth and tumorigenesis and activates AKT signaling. Similar to WNT5A knockdown, knockdown of the WNT receptors FZD7 and RYK inhibits growth, sensitizes melanoma cells to BRAFi, and reduces AKT activation. Together, these findings suggest that chronic BRAF inhibition elevates WNT5A expression, which then acts through FZD7 and RYK to promote AKT signaling, leading to increased growth and therapeutic resistance. Increased WNT5A expression in BRAFi-resistant melanomas also correlates with an associated transcriptional signature, which identifies potential therapeutic targets to reduce clinical resistance to BRAFi. Expression of WNT5A-correlated genes was compared in melanoma cell lines generated to be resistant to PLX4032 and the their associated naïve parental line Basal expression of the WNT5A-correlated genes was also measured in experiments comparing each naïve line to a mixed reference pool containing equal amounts of 47 melanoma cell lines.
Project description:About half of all melanomas harbor a constitutively active mutant BRAFV600E/K kinase that can be selectively inhibited by targeted BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi). While patients treated with BRAFi initially exhibit measurable clinical improvement, the majority of patients eventually develop drug resistance and relapse. We observe significant elevation of WNT5A in a subset of tumors from patients exhibiting disease progression on BRAFi therapy. WNT5A transcript and protein are also elevated in BRAFi-resistant melanoma cell lines generated by long-term in vitro treatment with BRAFi. RNAi-mediated reduction in levels of endogenous WNT5A in melanoma decreases cell growth, increases apoptosis in response to BRAFi challenge, and decreases the activity of pro-survival AKT signaling. Overexpression of WNT5A conversely promotes melanoma growth and tumorigenesis and activates AKT signaling. Similar to WNT5A knockdown, knockdown of the WNT receptors FZD7 and RYK inhibits growth, sensitizes melanoma cells to BRAFi, and reduces AKT activation. Together, these findings suggest that chronic BRAF inhibition elevates WNT5A expression, which then acts through FZD7 and RYK to promote AKT signaling, leading to increased growth and therapeutic resistance. Increased WNT5A expression in BRAFi-resistant melanomas also correlates with an associated transcriptional signature, which identifies potential therapeutic targets to reduce clinical resistance to BRAFi.
Project description:Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with increasing incidence worldwide. The development of BRAF kinase inhibitors as targeted treatments for patients with BRAF-mutant tumours contributed profoundly to an improved overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. Despite these promising results, the emergence of rapid resistance to targeted therapy remains a serious clinical issue. To investigate the impact of BRAF inhibitors on miRNomes and transcriptomes, we used in vitro melanoma models consisting of BRAF inhibitor-sensitive and -resistant cell lines generated in our laboratory. miRNA and gene expression were assessed by microarray analyses of the BRAF inhibitor sensitive melanoma cells A375, IGR37, and 501Mel, as well as on the vemurafenib (PLX4032) - resistant cells A375_XP, IGR37_XP, 501Mel_XP, and dabrafenib (GSK2118436) - resistant cells A375_GP, IGR37_GP, 501Mel_GP. For each cell line the microarray experiment was performed in duplicates.
Project description:Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with increasing incidence worldwide. The development of BRAF kinase inhibitors as targeted treatments for patients with BRAF-mutant tumours contributed profoundly to an improved overall survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. Despite these promising results, the emergence of rapid resistance to targeted therapy remains a serious clinical issue. To investigate the impact of BRAF inhibitors on miRNomes and transcriptomes, we used in vitro melanoma models consisting of BRAF inhibitor-sensitive and -resistant cell lines generated in our laboratory. miRNA and gene expression were assessed by microarray analyses of the BRAF inhibitor sensitive melanoma cells A375, IGR37, and 501Mel, as well as on the vemurafenib (PLX4032) - resistant cells A375_XP, IGR37_XP, 501Mel_XP, and dabrafenib (GSK2118436) - resistant cells A375_GP, IGR37_GP, 501Mel_GP. For each cell line the microarray experiment was performed in duplicates.
Project description:Increased MITF expression contributes to melanoma progression and resistance to BRAF pathway inhibition. We show that, unexpectedly, lack of MITF is associated with more severe resistance to a range of inhibitors. Indeed, the presence of endogenous MITF was essential for robust drug responses. Both in primary and acquired resistance, MITF levels inversely correlated with expression of several activated receptor tyrosine kinases, most commonly AXL. The MITF-low/AXL-high/drug resistance phenotype was seen in roughly half of BRAF mutant and the majority of NRAS mutant melanoma cell lines. The dichotomous behavior of MITF in drug response was corroborated in vemurafenib-resistant biopsies, including MITF high and low clones in a relapsed patient. Drug cocktails containing AXL inhibitor enhanced melanoma cell elimination by BRAF or ERK inhibition. Our results demonstrate that a low MITF/AXL ratio predicts early resistance to multiple targeted drugs, and warrant clinical validation of AXL inhibitors to combat resistance of BRAF and NRAS mutant MITF-low melanomas. Experssion analysis by RNAseq of 14 melanoma cell lines.
Project description:Melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of skin cancer and is often characterized by a constitutively activate RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway. For targeted therapy, BRAF inhibitors are available that are powerful in the beginning but resistance occurs rather fast. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of resistance is urgently needed to increase the success of the treatment. Here, we observed that in targeted therapy resistant, melanoma-derived induced pluripotent cancer cells (iPCCs) SOX2 and CD24 are upregulated. It is known that both SOX2 and CD24 expression promote an undifferentiated and cancer stem cell like phenotype, which is associated with higher therapy resistance. We therefore elucidated the role of SOX2 and CD24 in targeted therapy resistance in more detail. We found that SOX2 and CD24 are upregulated upon BRAF inhibitor treatment and that SOX2 is able to upregulate the expression of CD24 by binding to the CD24 promoter. Furthermore, we show that SOX2 or CD24 overexpression significantly increase the resistance towards BRAF inhibitors, while SOX2 knock-down rendered cell sensitive towards treatment. Moreover, CD24 and SOX2 are able to upregulate Src and STAT3 activity which could contribute to the increased resistance. Importantly, CD24 knockdown or Src inhibition in resistant SOX2 overexpressing cells, the sensitivity towards BRAF inhibitors was re-established. Hence, we suggest a novel mechanism of adaptive resistance whereby BRAF inhibition is circumvented via the upregulation of CD24 by SOX2 resulting in increased activity of Scr and STAT3. Thus, to prevent adaptive resistance it might be beneficial to use Src or STAT3 inhibitors together with MAPK pathway inhibitors.
Project description:Preclinical and clinical data implicate the transcriptional co-activator YAP1 in resistance to multiple targeted therapies, including BRAF and MEK inhibitors. However, tumor subtypes driven by YAP1 activity and associated vulnerabilities are poorly defined. Here, we show particularly high YAP1 activity in the MITFlow/AXLhigh subset of melanoma cell lines and patient tumors characterized by resistance to MAPK pathway inhibition and broad receptor tyrosine kinase activity. To uncover genetic dependencies of melanoma cells with high YAP1 activity, we used a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 functional screen and identified SLC35B2, the 3′-phosphoadenosine-5′-phosphosulfate transporter of the Golgi apparatus, as an essential gene for YAP1-mediated drug resistance. SLC35B2 expression correlates with tumor progression, and its loss decreases heparan sulfate expression, reduces receptor tyrosine kinase activity, and sensitizes resistant melanoma cells to BRAF inhibition in vitro and in vivo. Thus, SLC35B2 is a target in YAP1-driven BRAF mutant melanoma for overcoming drug resistance to MAPK pathway inhibitors.
Project description:Approximately 50% of melanomas harbor an activating BRAFV600E mutation. Standard of care involves a combination of inhibitors targeting mutant BRAF and MEK1/2, the substrate for BRAF in the MAPK pathway. PTEN loss of function mutations occur in 40% of BRAFV600E melanomas, resulting in increased PI3K/AKT activity that enhances resistance to BRAF/MEK combination inhibitor therapy. To compare the response of PTEN null to PTEN wild type cells in an isogenic background, CRISPR was used to knock out PTEN in the A375 melanoma cell line that harbors a BRAFV600E mutation. RNA sequencing and functional kinome analysis revealed the loss of PTEN led to an induction of FOXD3 and an increase in expression of the FOXD3 target gene, ERBB3/HER3. Inhibition of BRAFand MEK1/2 in PTEN null, BRAFV600E cells dramatically induced expression of ERBB3/HER3 relative to wild type cells. A synergy screen of epigenetic modifiers and kinase inhibitors in combination with inhibitors for mutant BRAF/MEK1/2 identified the pan ERBB/HER inhibitor, neratinib, as reversing the resistance observed in PTEN null, BRAFV600E cells. The findings indicate PTEN null BRAFV600E melanoma becomes dependent on ERBB/HER signaling when treated with clinically approved BRAF and MEK inhibitors. Future studies are warranted to test neratinib reversal of resistance in patient melanomas expressing ERBB3/HER3 in combination with its dimerization partner ERBB2/HER2.
Project description:Increased MITF expression contributes to melanoma progression and resistance to BRAF pathway inhibition. We show that, unexpectedly, lack of MITF is associated with more severe resistance to a range of inhibitors. Indeed, the presence of endogenous MITF was essential for robust drug responses. Both in primary and acquired resistance, MITF levels inversely correlated with expression of several activated receptor tyrosine kinases, most commonly AXL. The MITF-low/AXL-high/drug resistance phenotype was seen in roughly half of BRAF mutant and the majority of NRAS mutant melanoma cell lines. The dichotomous behavior of MITF in drug response was corroborated in vemurafenib-resistant biopsies, including MITF high and low clones in a relapsed patient. Drug cocktails containing AXL inhibitor enhanced melanoma cell elimination by BRAF or ERK inhibition. Our results demonstrate that a low MITF/AXL ratio predicts early resistance to multiple targeted drugs, and warrant clinical validation of AXL inhibitors to combat resistance of BRAF and NRAS mutant MITF-low melanomas.
Project description:We have previously shown that Wnt5A drives invasion in melanoma. We have also shown that Wnt5A promotes resistance to therapy designed to target the BRAF(V600E) mutation in melanoma. Here, we show that melanomas characterized by high levels of Wnt5A respond to therapeutic stress by increasing p21 and expressing classical markers of senescence, including positivity for senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal), senescence-associated heterochromatic foci (SAHF), H3K9Me chromatin marks, and PML bodies. We find that despite this, these cells retain their ability to migrate and invade. Further, despite the expression of classic markers of senescence such as SA-β-gal and SAHF, these Wnt5A-high cells are able to colonize the lungs in in vivo tail vein colony-forming assays. This clearly underscores the fact that these markers do not indicate true senescence in these cells, but instead an adaptive stress response that allows the cells to evade therapy and invade. Notably, silencing Wnt5A reduces expression of these markers and decreases invasiveness. The combined data point to Wnt5A as a master regulator of an adaptive stress response in melanoma, which may contribute to therapy resistance.