Citation

Daniels VW, Zoeller JJ, van Gastel N, McQueeney KE, Parvin S, Potter DS, Fell GG, Ferreira VG, Yilma B, Gupta R, Spetz J, Bhola PD, Endress JE, Harris IS, Carrilho E, Sarosiek KA, Scadden DT, Brugge JS, Letai A. 2021. Metabolic perturbations sensitize triple-negative breast cancers to apoptosis induced by BH3 mimetics. Science signaling. 14(686). Pubmed: 34103421 DOI:10.1126/scisignal.abc7405

Abstract

Cancer cells have differential metabolic dependencies compared to their nonmalignant counterparts. However, few metabolism-targeting compounds have been successful in clinical trials. Here, we investigated the metabolic vulnerabilities of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), particularly those metabolic perturbations that increased mitochondrial apoptotic priming and sensitivity to BH3 mimetics (drugs that antagonize antiapoptotic proteins). We used high-throughput dynamic BH3 profiling (HT-DBP) to screen a library of metabolism-perturbing small molecules, which revealed inhibitors of the enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) as top candidates. In some TNBC cells but not in nonmalignant cells, NAMPT inhibitors increased overall apoptotic priming and induced dependencies on specific antiapoptotic BCL-2 family members. Treatment of TNBC cells with NAMPT inhibitors sensitized them to subsequent treatment with BH3 mimetics. The combination of a NAMPT inhibitor (FK866) and an MCL-1 antagonist (S63845) reduced tumor growth in a TNBC patient-derived xenograft model in vivo. We found that NAMPT inhibition reduced NAD concentrations below a critical threshold that resulted in depletion of adenine, which was the metabolic trigger that primed TNBC cells for apoptosis. These findings demonstrate a close interaction between metabolic and mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathways and reveal that exploitation of a tumor-specific metabolic vulnerability can sensitize some TNBC to BH3 mimetics.
Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

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David Scadden’s laboratory is dedicated to discovering the principles governing blood cell production, with the ultimate goal of guiding the development of therapies for blood disorders and cancer.

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