Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-29-2020
Abstract
Metastatic melanoma remains an incurable disease for many patients due to the limited success of targeted and immunotherapies. BRAF and MEK inhibitors reduce metastatic burden for patients with melanomas harboring BRAF mutations; however, most eventually relapse due to acquired resistance. Here, we demonstrate that ABL1/2 kinase activities and/or expression are potentiated in cell lines and patient samples following resistance, and ABL1/2 drive BRAF and BRAF/MEK inhibitor resistance by inducing reactivation of MEK/ERK/MYC signaling. Silencing/inhibiting ABL1/2 blocks pathway reactivation, and resensitizes resistant cells to BRAF/MEK inhibitors, whereas expression of constitutively active ABL1/2 is sufficient to promote resistance. Significantly, nilotinib (2nd generation ABL1/2 inhibitor) reverses resistance, in vivo, causing prolonged regression of resistant tumors, and also, prevents BRAFi/MEKi resistance from developing in the first place. These data indicate that repurposing the FDA-approved leukemia drug, nilotinib, may be effective for prolonging survival for patients harboring BRAF-mutant melanomas.
Recommended Citation
Tripathi, Rakshamani; Liu, Zulong; Jain,, Aditi; Lyon, Anastasia; Meeks, Christina; Richards, Dana; Liu, Jinpeng; He, Daheng; Wang, Chi; Nespi, Marika; Rymar, Andrey; Wang, Peng; Wilson, Melissa; and Plattner, Rina, "Combating acquired resistance to MAPK inhibitors in melanoma by targeting Abl1/2-mediated reactivation of MEK/ERK/MYC signaling." (2020). Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers. Paper 131.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medoncfp/131
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
33122628
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in Nature Communications, Volume 11, Issue 1, October 2020, Article number e1151.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19075-3. Copyright © Tripathi et al.