Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease that can currently be subdivided into four distinct consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) based on gene expression profiling. The CMS4 subtype is marked by high expression of mesenchymal genes and is associated with a worse overall prognosis compared to other CMSs. Importantly, this subtype responds poorly to the standard therapies currently used to treat CRC. We set out to explore what regulatory signalling networks underlie the CMS4 phenotype of cancer cells, specifically, by analysing which kinases were more highly expressed in this subtype compared to others. We found AKT3 to be expressed in the cancer cell epithelium of CRC specimens, patient derived xenograft (PDX) models and in (primary) cell cultures representing CMS4. Importantly, chemical inhibition or knockout of this gene hampers outgrowth of this subtype, as AKT3 controls expression of the cell cycle regulator p27KIP1. Furthermore, high AKT3 expression was associated with high expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes, and this observation could be expanded to cell lines representing other carcinoma types. More importantly, this association allowed for the identification of CRC patients with a high propensity to metastasise and an associated poor prognosis. High AKT3 expression in the tumour epithelial compartment may thus be used as a surrogate marker for EMT and may allow for a selection of CRC patients that could benefit from AKT3-targeted therapy.

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Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) can be divided into four consensus molecular subtypes (CMS), each with distinct biological features. CMS4 is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stromal infiltration (Guinney et al., Nat Med 21:1350–6, 2015; Linnekamp et al., Cell Death Differ 25:616–33, 2018), whereas clinically it is characterized by lower responses to adjuvant therapy, higher incidence of metastatic spreading and hence dismal prognosis (Buikhuisen et al., Oncogenesis 9:66, 2020). Methods To understand the biology of the mesenchymal subtype and unveil specific vulnerabilities, a large CRISPR-Cas9 drop-out screen was performed on 14 subtyped CRC cell lines to uncover essential kinases in all CMSs. Dependency of CMS4 cells on p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2) was validated in independent 2D and 3D in vitro cultures and in vivo models assessing primary and metastatic outgrowth in liver and peritoneum. TIRF microscopy was used to uncover actin cytoskeleton dynamics and focal adhesion localization upon PAK2 loss. Subsequent functional assays were performed to determine altered growth and invasion patterns. Results PAK2 was identified as a key kinase uniquely required for growth of the mesenchymal subtype CMS4, both in vitro and in vivo. PAK2 plays an important role in cellular attachment and cytoskeletal rearrangements (Coniglio et al., Mol Cell Biol 28:4162–72, 2008; Grebenova et al., Sci Rep 9:17171, 2019). In agreement, deletion or inhibition of PAK2 impaired actin cytoskeleton dynamics in CMS4 cells and, as a consequence, significantly reduced invasive capacity, while it was dispensable for CMS2 cells. Clinical relevance of these findings was supported by the observation that deletion of PAK2 from CMS4 cells prevented metastatic spreading in vivo. Moreover, growth in a model for peritoneal metastasis was hampered when CMS4 tumor cells were deficient for PAK2. Conclusion Our data reveal a unique dependency of mesenchymal CRC and provide a rationale for PAK2 inhibition to target this aggressive subgroup of colorectal cancer.