Research Papers:
FGFR signaling maintains a drug persistent cell population following epithelial-mesenchymal transition
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Abstract
Wells S. Brown1, Saeed Salehin Akhand1, Michael K. Wendt1
1Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
Correspondence to:
Michael K. Wendt, email: mwendt@purdue.edu
Keywords: breast cancer, Her2 resistance, FGFR, EMT, covalent kinase inhibitor
Received: August 25, 2016 Accepted: October 13, 2016 Published: November 04, 2016
ABSTRACT
An emerging characteristic of drug resistance in cancer is the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, the mechanisms of EMT-mediated drug resistance remain poorly defined. Therefore, we conducted long-term treatments of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her2)-transformed breast cancer cells with either the EGFR/Her2 kinase inhibitor, Lapatinib or TGF-β, a known physiological inducer of EMT. Both of these treatment regimes resulted in robust EMT phenotypes, but upon withdrawal a subpopulation of TGF-β induced cells readily underwent mesenchymal-epithelial transition, where as Lapatinib-induced cells failed to reestablish an epithelial population. The mesenchymal population that remained following TGF-β stimulation and withdrawal was quickly selected for during subsequent Lapatinib treatment, manifesting in inherent drug resistance. The Nanostring cancer progression gene panel revealed a dramatic upregulation of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) and its cognate ligand FGF2 in both acquired and inherent resistance. Mechanistically, FGF:Erk1/2 signaling functions to stabilize the EMT transcription factor Twist and thus maintain the mesenchymal and drug resistant phenotype. Finally, Lapatinib resistant cells could be readily eliminated using recently characterized covalent inhibitors of FGFR. Overall our data demonstrate that next-generation targeting of FGFR can be used in combination with Her2-targeted therapies to overcome resistance in this breast cancer subtype.
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