The serine/threonine kinase Akt lies at a critical signaling node downstream of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and is important in promoting cell survival and inhibiting apoptosis. An Akt inhibitor may be particularly useful for cancers in which increased Akt signaling is associated with reduced sensitivity to cytotoxic agents or receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We evaluated the effect of a novel allosteric Akt inhibitor, MK-2206, in combination with several anticancer agents. In vitro, MK-2206 synergistically inhibited cell proliferation of human cancer cell lines in combination with molecular targeted agents such as erlotinib (an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor) or lapatinib (a dual epidermal growth factor receptor/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 inhibitor). Complementary inhibition of erlotinib-insensitive Akt phosphorylation by MK-2206 was one mechanism of synergism, and a synergistic effect was found even in erlotinib-insensitive cell lines. MK-2206 also showed synergistic responses in combination with cytotoxic agents such as topoisomerase inhibitors (doxorubicin, camptothecin), antimetabolites (gemcitabine, 5-fluorouracil), anti-microtubule agents (docetaxel), and DNA cross-linkers (carboplatin) in lung NCI-H460 or ovarian A2780 tumor cells. The synergy with docetaxel depended on the treatment sequence; a schedule of MK-2206 dosed before docetaxel was not effective. MK-2206 suppressed the Akt phosphorylation that is induced by carboplatin and gemcitabine. In vivo, MK-2206 in combination with these agents exerted significantly more potent tumor inhibitory activities than each agent in the monotherapy setting. These findings suggest that Akt inhibition may augment the efficacy of existing cancer therapeutics; thus, MK-2206 is a promising agent to treat cancer patients who receive these cytotoxic and/or molecular targeted agents. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(7); 1956-67.

These findings suggest that saturated FAs, which are released in large quantities from hypertrophied adipocytes via the macrophage-induced adipocyte lipolysis, serve as a naturally occurring ligand for TLR4, thereby inducing the inflammatory changes in both adipocytes and macrophages through NF-kappaB activation.

Wee1 is a tyrosine kinase that phosphorylates and inactivates CDC2 and is involved in G 2 checkpoint signaling. Because p53 is a key regulator in the G 1 checkpoint, p53-deficient tumors rely only on the G 2 checkpoint after DNA damage. Hence, such tumors are selectively sensitized to DNA-damaging agents by Wee1 inhibition. Here, we report the discovery of a potent and selective smallmolecule inhibitor of Wee1 kinase, MK-1775. This compound inhibits phosphorylation of CDC2 at Tyr15 (CDC2Y15), a direct substrate of Wee1 kinase in cells. MK-1775 abrogates G 2 DNA damage checkpoint, leading to apoptosis in combination with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents such as gemcitabine, carboplatin, and cisplatin selectively in p53-deficient cells. In vivo, MK-1775 potentiates tumor growth inhibition by these agents, and cotreatment does not significantly increase toxicity. The enhancement of antitumor effect by MK-1775 was well correlated with inhibition of CDC2Y15 phosphorylation in tumor tissue and skin hair follicles. Our data indicate that Wee1 inhibition provides a new approach for treatment of multiple human malignancies.

ABCG2/MXR/ABCP1/BCRP is a member of the ATP-binding cassette membrane transporter, which consists of six transmembrane regions and one ATP-binding cassette. The transporter is known to be involved in the efflux of various anticancer compounds such as mitoxantrone, doxorubicin and topoisomerase I inhibitor. In this study, we analyzed the effects of polymorphisms in ABCG2, V12M and Q141K on transporter function. When polarized LLC-PK1 cells were transfected with variant ABCG2, drug-resistance to topoisomerase I inhibitor of cells expressing V12M or Q141K was less than 1/10 that of wild-type ABCG2 transfected cells, and was accompanied by increased drug accumulation and decreased drug efflux in the variant ABCG2-expressing cells. We further elucidated the molecular mechanisms of the transport dysfunction by investigating membrane localization and ATPase activity. Confocal microscopic analysis revealed that apical plasma membrane localization of V12M was disturbed, while the localization of wild-type transporters occurred specifically in the apical plasma membrane of polarized LLC-PK1 cells. Also, ATPase activities measured in the membrane of SF9 cells infected with variant ABCG2 showed that Q141K decreased activity by 1.3 below that of wild-type ABCG2. In addition, kinetic analysis of ATPase activity showed that the K m value in Q141K was 1.4-fold higher than that of wild-type ABCG2. These results indicated that naturally occurring SNPs alter transport functions of ABCG2 transporter and analysis of SNPs in ABCG2 may hold great importance in understanding the response/metabolism of chemotherapy compounds that act as substrates for ABCG2.