Miclxin, a Novel MIC60 Inhibitor, Induces Apoptosis via Mitochondrial Stress in ß-Catenin Mutant Tumor Cells.

ABSTRACT

The Wnt signaling pathway regulates diverse cellular processes. ß-Catenin is one of the major components of this pathway, in which it plays a main role. Although it has been established that ß-catenin is mutated in a wide variety of tumors, there are currently no effective therapeutic agents that target ß-catenin. In this study, we searched for the compound that targets mutant ß-catenin and found DS37262926 (miclxin). Miclxin exhibited ß-catenin-dependent apoptosis in ß-catenin-mutated HCT116 cells and isogenic HCT116 (CTNNB1 Δ45/-) cells; however, this effect was not observed in isogenic HCT116 (CTNNB1 +/-) cells. Using miclxin-immobilized beads, MIC60, one of the major components of the mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS) complex, was identified as a target protein of miclxin. We revealed that MIC60 dysfunction caused by miclxin induced a mitochondrial stress response in a mutant ß-catenin-dependent manner. Activation of the mitochondrial stress response was responsible for the downregulation of Bcl-2, leading to severe loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and subsequent apoptosis-inducing factor-dependent apoptosis. Our findings suggest that targeting MIC60 is a potential strategy with which tumor cells can be killed through induction of severe mitochondrial damage in a mutant ß-catenin-dependent manner.