MELK Inhibition in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Autor: Meel MH, de Gooijer MC, Guillén Navarro M, Waranecki P, Breur M, Buil L, Wedekind LE, Twisk JWR, Koster J, Hashizume R, Raabe EH, Carcaboso AM, Bugiani M, van Tellingen O, van Vuurden DG, Kaspers GJL, Hulleman E
Rok vydání: 2018
Zdroj: CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
r-FSJD: Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de la Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
r-FSJD. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de la Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
instname
ISSN: 1078-0432
Popis: Purpose: Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a highly aggressive pediatric brain tumor, for which no effective therapeutic options currently exist. We here determined the potential of inhibition of the maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) for the treatment of DIPG.Experimental Design: We evaluated the antitumor efficacy of the small-molecule MELK inhibitor OTSSP167 in vitro in patient-derived DIPG cultures, and identified the mechanism of action of MELK inhibition in DIPG by RNA sequencing of treated cells. In addition, we determined the blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration of OTSSP167 and evaluated its translational potential by treating mice bearing patient-derived DIPG xenografts.Results: This study shows that MELK is highly expressed in DIPG cells, both in patient samples and in relevant in vitro and in vivo models, and that treatment with OTSSP167 strongly decreases proliferation of patient-derived DIPG cultures. Inhibition of MELK in DIPG cells functions through reducing inhibitory phosphorylation of PPAR?, resulting in an increase in nuclear translocation and consequent transcriptional activity. Brain pharmacokinetic analyses show that OTSSP167 is a strong substrate for both MDR1 and BCRP, limiting its BBB penetration. Nonetheless, treatment of Mdr1a/b;Bcrp1 knockout mice carrying patient-derived DIPG xenografts with OTSSP167 decreased tumor growth, induced remissions, and resulted in improved survival.Conclusions: We show a strong preclinical effect of the kinase inhibitor OTSSP167 in the treatment of DIPG and identify the MELK-PPAR? signaling axis as a putative therapeutic target in this disease. Clin Cancer Res; 24(22); 5645-57. ©2018 AACR.
Databáze: OpenAIRE