Co-inhibition of SMAD and MAPK signaling enhances 124I uptake in BRAF-mutant thyroid cancers.

Luckett, Kathleen A, Cracchiolo, Jennifer R, Krishnamoorthy, Gnana P, Leandro-Garcia, Luis Javier, Nagarajah, James, Saqcena, Mahesh, Lester, Rona, Im, Soo Y, Zhao, Zhen, Lowe, Scott W, de Stanchina, Elisa, Sherman, Eric J, Ho, Alan L, Leach, Steven D, Knauf, Jeffrey A, Fagin, James A (May 2021) Co-inhibition of SMAD and MAPK signaling enhances 124I uptake in BRAF-mutant thyroid cancers. Endocrine-Related Cancer, 28 (6). pp. 391-402. ISSN 1351-0088

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Abstract

Constitutive MAPK activation silences genes required for iodide uptake and thyroid hormone biosynthesis in thyroid follicular cells. Accordingly, most BRAFV600E papillary thyroid cancers (PTC) are refractory to radioiodide (RAI) therapy. MAPK pathway inhibitors rescue thyroid-differentiated properties and RAI responsiveness in mice and patient subsets with BRAFV600E-mutant PTC. TGFB1 also impairs thyroid differentiation and has been proposed to mediate the effects of mutant BRAF. We generated a mouse model of BRAFV600E-PTC with thyroid-specific knockout of the Tgfbr1 gene to investigate the role of TGFB1 on thyroid-differentiated gene expression and RAI uptake in vivo. Despite appropriate loss of Tgfbr1, pSMAD levels remained high, indicating that ligands other than TGFB1 were engaging in this pathway. The activin ligand subunits Inhba and Inhbb were found to be overexpressed in BRAFV600E-mutant thyroid cancers. Treatment with follistatin, a potent inhibitor of activin, or vactosertib, which inhibits both TGFBR1 and the activin type I receptor ALK4, induced a profound inhibition of pSMAD in BRAFV600E-PTCs. Blocking SMAD signaling alone was insufficient to enhance iodide uptake in the setting of constitutive MAPK activation. However, combination treatment with either follistatin or vactosertib and the MEK inhibitor CKI increased 124I uptake compared to CKI alone. In summary, activin family ligands converge to induce pSMAD in Braf-mutant PTCs. Dedifferentiation of BRAFV600E-PTCs cannot be ascribed primarily to activation of SMAD. However, targeting TGFβ/activin-induced pSMAD augmented MAPK inhibitor effects on iodine incorporation into BRAF tumor cells, indicating that these two pathways exert interdependent effects on the differentiation state of thyroid cancer cells.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification
organism description > animal
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > small molecules > cofactors
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > enzymes
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > enzymes > kinase
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > small molecules > cofactors > ligands
organism description > animal > mammal
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > enzymes > Mitogen-activated protein kinase
organism description > animal > mammal > rodent > mouse
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types
organism description > animal > mammal > rodent
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > small molecules
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > TGF-beta
diseases & disorders > cancer > thyroid cancer
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Lowe lab
SWORD Depositor: CSHL Elements
Depositing User: CSHL Elements
Date: 18 May 2021
Date Deposited: 25 Jun 2021 20:25
Last Modified: 25 Jan 2024 15:08
PMCID: PMC8183640
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/40230

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