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Ferroptosis is induced by lenvatinib through fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 inhibition in hepatocellular carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: The tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib is used to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ferroptosis is a type of cell death characterized by the iron-dependent accumulation of lethal lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (Nrf2) protects HCC cells against ferroptosis. However, the mechanism of lenvatinib-induced cytotoxicity and the relationships between lenvatinib resistance and Nrf2 are unclear. Thus, we investigated the relationship between lenvatinib and ferroptosis and clarified the involvement of Nrf2 in lenvatinib-induced cytotoxicity. Cell viability, lipid ROS levels, and protein expression were measured using Hep3B and HuH7 cells treated with lenvatinib or erastin. We examined these variables after silencing fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 (FGFR4) or Nrf2 and overexpressing-Nrf2. We immunohistochemically evaluated FGFR4 expression in recurrent lesions after resection and clarified the relationship between FGFR4 expression and lenvatinib efficacy. Lenvatinib suppressed system X_c ^- (xCT) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression. Inhibition of the cystine import activity of xCT and GPX4 resulted in the accumulation of lipid ROS. Silencing-FGFR4 suppressed xCT and GPX4 expression and increased lipid ROS levels. Nrf2-silenced HCC cells displayed sensitivity to lenvatinib and high lipid ROS levels. In contrast, Nrf2-overexpressing HCC cells displayed resistance to lenvatinib and low lipid ROS levels. The efficacy of lenvatinib was significantly lower in recurrent HCC lesions with low-FGFR4 expression than in those with high-FGFR4 expression. Patients with FGFR4-positive HCC displayed significantly longer progression-free survival than those with FGFR4-negative HCC. Lenvatinib induced ferroptosis by inhibiting FGFR4. Nrf2 is involved in the sensitivity of HCC to lenvatinib.

SUBMITTER: Iseda N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9277415 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background & aimsCombination immunotherapy refers to the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and molecular-targeted agents (MTA), which have recently been approved for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Owing to its relatively low antitumor effect (up to 30%), sequential therapy following ICIs treatment is required in patients with HCC. This study aimed to determine the impact of MTAs on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME).MethodsWe established immune syngeneic orthotopic HCC mouse models using Hep-55.1C and Hep-53.4, and treated them with MTAs (lenvatinib, sorafenib, regorafenib, cabozantinib, and DC101 as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 antibodies, and AZD4547 as a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-1/2/3/4 inhibitor) for 2 weeks. Subsequently, alterations in the TIME caused by MTAs were evaluated using immunohistochemistry (antibodies for CD3, CD8, Foxp3, Granzyme B, Arginase-1, NK1.1, F4/80, CD11c, PD-1, and PD-L1). We conducted RNA-seq analysis using lenvatinib- and AZD4547-treated tumors. To confirm the clinical relevance of these findings, we analyzed the transcriptome data of human HCC cells (MHCC-97H) treated with various concentrations of lenvatinib for 24 h using RNA-seq data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database.ResultsThe number of Foxp3- and F4/80-positive cells in the TIME was decreased in many MTAs. Cabozantinib increased the numbers in NK1.1-, Granzyme B, and CD11c-positive cells. Lenvatinib and AZD4547 increased the number of CD8, Granzyme B, and PD-L1-positive cells. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that lipid metabolism-related genes were downregulated by lenvatinib and AZD4547. In total, 161 genes downregulated by FGFR inhibition in rodent models overlapped with those downregulated by lenvatinib in human HCC cells.ConclusionsIn this study, we showed that cabozantinib activated the innate immune system, and lenvatinib and AZD4547, which commonly inhibit FGFR signaling, altered TIME to a hot immune state by downregulating lipid metabolism-related genes. These findings support the therapeutic use of combination immunotherapies.

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Ferroptosis is induced by lenvatinib through fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 inhibition in hepatocellular carcinoma.

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