Inhibiting glycolysis remains an aspirational approach for the treatment of cancer. We previously identified a subset of cancers harboring homozygous deletion of the glycolytic enzyme Enolase (ENO1) with exceptional sensitivity to inhibition of its redundant paralogue, ENO2, through a therapeutic strategy known as collateral lethality. Here, we show that a small molecule Enolase inhibitor, POMHEX, can selectively kill ENO1 -deleted glioma cells at low nanomolar concentrations and eradicate intracranial orthotopic ENO1 -deleted tumors in mice at doses well-tolerated in non-human primates. Our data provide in vivo proof-of-principal for the power of collateral lethality in precision oncology and demonstrate the utility of POMHEX for glycolysis inhibition with potential across a range of therapeutic settings.
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the major subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that is resistant to conventional radiation and chemotherapy. It is a challenge to explore effective therapeutic targets and drugs for this kind of cancer. Transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) exerts diverse functions in various tumor types. By analyzing cohorts of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data sets, we find that KLF5 expression is suppressed in ccRCC patients and higher level of KLF5 expression is associated with better prognostic outcome. Our further investigations demonstrate that KLF5 genomic loci are hypermethylated at proximal exon 4 and suppression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) expression by ShRNAs or a methylation inhibitor 5-Aza-CdR can recover KLF5 expression. Meanwhile, there is a negative correlation between expressions of KLF5 and DNMT1 in ccRCC tissues. Ectopic KLF5 expression inhibits ccRCC cell proliferation and migration/invasion in vitro and decreases xenograft growth and metastasis in vivo. Moreover, 5-Aza-CdR, a chemotherapy drug as DNMTs' inhibitor that can induce KLF5 expression, suppresses ccRCC cell growth, while knockdown of KLF5 abolishes 5-Aza-CdR-induced growth inhibition. Collectively, our data demonstrate that KLF5 inhibits ccRCC growth as a tumor suppressor and highlight the potential of 5-Aza-CdR to release KLF5 expression as a therapeutic modality for the treatment of ccRCC.
China accounts for almost half of the total number of liver cancer cases and deaths worldwide, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most primary liver cancer. Snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SNAI2) is known as an epithelial to mesenchymal transition-inducing transcription factor that drives neoplastic epithelial cells into mesenchymal phenotype. However, the roles of endogenous SNAI2 remain controversial in different types of malignant tumors. Herein, we surprisingly identify that anchorage-independent growth, including the formation of tumor sphere and soft agar colony, is significantly increased when SNAI2 expression is inhibited by shRNAs in HCC cells. Suppression of SNAI2 suffices to up-regulate several cancer stem genes. Although unrelated to the metastatic ability, SNAI2 inhibition does increase the efflux of Hoechst 33342 and enhance multidrug resistance in vitro and in vivo. In agreement with this data, we demonstrate for the first time that decreasing SNAI2 level can transcriptionally upregulate several ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes such as ABCB1. Moreover, ABC transporters’ inhibitor verapamil can rescue the multidrug resistance induced by SNAI2 inhibition. Our results implicate that SNAI2 behaves as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting multidrug resistance via suppressing ABC transporter genes in HCC cells.
We have examined the mechanism through which fibrotic extracellular matrices promote tumor progression and metastasis in HER2+ breast cancer. We found that integrin-mediated mechano-transduction and engagement of ERBB2/ERBB3 cooperate to induce activation of YAP and invasive growth in stiff 3D Matrigel-Collagen I. Mechanistic studies revealed that joint activation of SRC Family Kinases (SFKs) by FAK and ERBB2/3 results in tyrosine phosphorylation and inactivation of LATS1/2 and MOB1. The ensuing activation of YAP enables HER2+ breast cancer cells to proliferate and invade in 3D Matrigel-Collagen I. In addition, tyrosine phosphorylation of LATS1/2 and MOB1 and activation of YAP are required for v-SRC-mediated transformation of fibroblasts. Finally, preclinical studies indicated that FAK-SRC signaling is required for primary tumor growth and lung metastasis in the MMTV-Neu mouse model of HER2+ breast cancer. Congruently, administration of dasatinib significantly increased the capacity of lapatinib to inhibit primary tumor growth and lung colonization in MMTV-Neu mice. These findings indicate that integrin-mediated mechano-transduction functions as a rheostat to regulate ERBB2 signaling to YAP and suggest that co-targeting ERBB2 and SFKs may exhibit therapeutic efficacy in HER2+ breast cancer.
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