Frontiers in Oncology (Jul 2022)

Concurrent inhibition of FAK/SRC and MEK overcomes MEK inhibitor resistance in Neurofibromatosis Type I related malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors

  • Yihui Gu,
  • Chengjiang Wei,
  • Manhon Chung,
  • Haibo Li,
  • Zizhen Guo,
  • Manmei Long,
  • Yuehua Li,
  • Wei Wang,
  • Rehanguli Aimaier,
  • Qingfeng Li,
  • Zhichao Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.910505
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

Read online

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are aggressive soft-tissue sarcomas which lack effective drugs. Loss of the RAS GTPase-activating protein NF1 and subsequent overactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPK) signaling exist nearly uniformly in MPNST, making MAPK inhibition a promising therapeutic intervention. However, the efficacy of MEK inhibitor (MEKi) monotherapy was limited in MPNST and the relative mechanisms remained largely unexplored. In this study, we generated three MEKi-resistant cell models and investigated the mechanisms of MEKi resistance using high-throughput transcriptomic sequencing. We discovered that cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest induced by MEKi were rescued in MEKi-resistant cells and the upregulation of LAMA4/ITGB1/FAK/SRC signaling conferred resistance to MEKi. In addition, concurrent inhibition of MAPK signaling and FAK/SRC cascade could sensitize MPNST cells to MEKi. Our findings provide potential solutions to overcome MEKi resistance and effective combination therapeutic strategies for treating MPNSTs.

Keywords