RESUMO
Intrinsic and acquired resistance to mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors (MAPKi) in melanoma remains a major therapeutic challenge. Here, we show that the clinical development of resistance to MAPKi is associated with reduced tumor expression of the melanoma suppressor Autophagy and Beclin 1 Regulator 1 (AMBRA1) and that lower expression levels of AMBRA1 predict a poor response to MAPKi treatment. Functional analyses show that loss of AMBRA1 induces phenotype switching and orchestrates an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-independent resistance mechanism by activating focal adhesion kinase 1 (FAK1). In both in vitro and in vivo settings, melanomas with low AMBRA1 expression exhibit intrinsic resistance to MAPKi therapy but higher sensitivity to FAK1 inhibition. Finally, we show that the rapid development of resistance in initially MAPKi-sensitive melanomas can be attributed to preexisting subclones characterized by low AMBRA1 expression and that cotreatment with MAPKi and FAK1 inhibitors (FAKi) effectively prevents the development of resistance in these tumors. In summary, our findings underscore the value of AMBRA1 expression for predicting melanoma response to MAPKi and supporting the therapeutic efficacy of FAKi to overcome MAPKi-induced resistance.
Assuntos
Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Melanoma , Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases , Melanoma/tratamento farmacológico , Melanoma/genética , Melanoma/metabolismo , Humanos , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos/efeitos dos fármacos , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos/genética , Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases/farmacologia , Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases/uso terapêutico , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/genética , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Animais , Camundongos , Quinase 1 de Adesão Focal/metabolismo , Quinase 1 de Adesão Focal/antagonistas & inibidores , Ensaios Antitumorais Modelo de Xenoenxerto , Proteínas Quinases Ativadas por Mitógeno/metabolismo , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , FemininoRESUMO
Adipose tissues display a remarkable ability to adapt to the dietary status. Here, we have applied single-nucleus RNA-seq to map the plasticity of mouse epididymal white adipose tissue at single-nucleus resolution in response to high-fat-diet-induced obesity. The single-nucleus approach allowed us to recover all major cell types and to reveal distinct transcriptional stages along the entire adipogenic trajectory from preadipocyte commitment to mature adipocytes. We demonstrate the existence of different adipocyte subpopulations and show that obesity leads to disappearance of the lipogenic subpopulation and increased abundance of the stressed lipid-scavenging subpopulation. Moreover, obesity is associated with major changes in the abundance and gene expression of other cell populations, including a dramatic increase in lipid-handling genes in macrophages at the expense of macrophage-specific genes. The data provide a powerful resource for future hypothesis-driven investigations of the mechanisms of adipocyte differentiation and adipose tissue plasticity.