Resistance to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib and erlotinib, often related to Ras or secondary EGFR mutations, is a relevant clinical issue in NonSmall Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Although Src TK has been involved in such resistance, clinical development of its inhibitors has been so far limited.To better define the molecular targets of the Src TKIs saracatinib, dasatinib and bosutinib, we used a variety of in vitro/in vivo studies.Kinase assays supported by docking analysis demonstrated that all the compounds directly inhibit EGFR TK variants. However, in live cells only saracatinib efficiently reduced EGFR activation, while dasatinib was the most effective agent in inhibiting Src TK. Consistently, a pronounced anti-proliferative effect was achieved with saracatinib, in EGFR mutant cells, or with dasatinib, in wt EGFR/Ras mutant cells, poorly dependent on EGFR and erlotinib-resistant. We then identified the most effective drug combinations to overcome resistance to EGFR inhibitors, both in vitro and in nude mice: in T790M EGFR erlotinib-resistant cells, saracatinib with the anti-EGFR mAb cetuximab; in Ras mutant erlotinib-resistant models, dasatinib with the MEK inhibitor selumetinib. Src inhibitors may act with different mechanisms in NSCLCs, depending on EGFR/Ras mutational profile, and may be integrated with EGFR or MEK inhibitors for different cohorts of NSCLCs.
Autophagy is a lysosome‐dependent degradation pathway essential to maintain cellular homeostasis. Therefore, either defective or excessive autophagy may be detrimental for cells and tissues. The past decade was characterized by significant advances in molecular dissection of stimulatory autophagy inputs; however, our understanding of the mechanisms that restrain autophagy is far from complete. Here, we describe a negative feedback mechanism that limits autophagosome biogenesis based on the selective autophagy‐mediated degradation of ATG13, a component of the ULK1 autophagy initiation complex. We demonstrate that the centrosomal protein OFD1 acts as bona fide autophagy receptor for ATG13 via direct interaction with the Atg8/LC3/GABARAP family of proteins. We also show that patients with Oral‐Facial‐Digital type I syndrome, caused by mutations in the OFD1 gene, display excessive autophagy and that genetic inhibition of autophagy in a mouse model of the disease, significantly ameliorates polycystic kidney, a clinical manifestation of the disorder. Collectively, our data report the discovery of an autophagy self‐regulated mechanism and implicate dysregulated autophagy in the pathogenesis of renal cystic disease in mammals.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are attractive therapeutic targets and promising candidates as molecular biomarkers for various therapy-resistant tumors. However, the association between miRNAs and drug resistance in melanoma remains to be elucidated. We used an integrative genomic analysis to comprehensively study the miRNA expression profiles of drug-resistant melanoma patients and cell lines. MicroRNA-181a and -181b (miR181a/b) were identified as the most significantly down-regulated miRNAs in resistant melanoma patients and cell lines. Re-establishment of miR-181a/b expression reverses the resistance of melanoma cells to the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib. Introduction of miR-181 mimics markedly decreases the expression of TFAM in A375 melanoma cells resistant to BRAF inhibitors. Furthermore, melanoma growth was inhibited in A375 and M14 resistant melanoma cells transfected with miR-181a/b mimics, while miR-181a/b depletion enhanced resistance in sensitive cell lines. Collectively, our study demonstrated that miR-181a/b could reverse the resistance to BRAF inhibitors in dabrafenib resistant melanoma cell lines. In addition, miR-181a and -181b are strongly down-regulated in tumor samples from patients before and after the development of resistance to targeted therapies. Finally, melanoma tissues with high miR-181a and -181b expression presented favorable outcomes in terms of Progression Free Survival, suggesting that miR-181 is a clinically relevant candidate for therapeutic development or biomarker-based therapy selection.
Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a group of diseases whose common landmark is progressive photoreceptor loss. The development of gene-specific therapies for IRDs is hampered by their wide genetic heterogeneity. Mitochondrial dysfunction is proving to constitute one of the key pathogenic events in IRDs; hence, approaches that enhance mitochondrial activities have a promising therapeutic potential for these conditions. We previously reported that miR-181a/b downregulation boosts mitochondrial turnover in models of primary retinal mitochondrial diseases. Here, we show that miR-181a/b silencing has a beneficial effect also in IRDs. In particular, the injection in the subretinal space of an adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) that harbors a miR-181a/b inhibitor (sponge) sequence (AAV2/8-GFP-Sponge-miR-181a/b) improves retinal morphology and visual function both in models of autosomal dominant (RHO-P347S) and of autosomal recessive (rd10) retinitis pigmentosa. Moreover, we demonstrate that miR-181a/b downregulation modulates the level of the mitochondrial fission-related protein Drp1 and rescues the mitochondrial fragmentation in RHO-P347S photoreceptors. Overall, these data support the potential use of miR-181a/b downregulation as an innovative mutation-independent therapeutic strategy for IRDs, which can be effective both to delay disease progression and to aid gene-specific therapeutic approaches.
Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles that assemble and protrude from the surface of most mammalian cells during quiescence. The biomedical relevance of cilia is indicated by disorders ascribed to cilia dysfunction, known as ciliopathies, that display distinctive features including renal cystic disease. In this report, we demonstrate that vacuolar protein sorting 39 (VPS39), a component of the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex, acts as a negative regulator of ciliogenesis in human renal cells, by controlling the localization of the intraflagellar transport 20 protein at the base of cilia through autophagy. Moreover, we show that VPS39 controls ciliogenesis through autophagy also in vivo in renal tubules of medaka fish. These observations suggest a direct involvement of the HOPS complex in the regulation of autophagy-mediated ciliogenesis and eventually in target selection. Interestingly, we show that the impact of autophagy modulation on ciliogenesis is cell-type dependent and strictly related to environmental stimuli. This report adds a further tile to the cilia-autophagy connection and suggests that VPS39 could represent a new biological target for the recovery of the cilia-related phenotypes observed in the kidneys of patients affected by ciliopathies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.