Pharmacological Targeting of a Metabolic Co-Dependency Pathway in Brain Cancers
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ABSTRACT: Mutations in growth factor receptor signaling pathways are common in cancer, including in tumors that arise from or metastasize to the brain. However, most small-molecule inhibitors targeting growth factor receptors have failed to show efficacy for brain cancers, potentially due to inability to achieve sufficient drug levels in the CNS. Targeting non-oncogene tumor co-dependencies provides an alternative approach, particularly if drugs with high brain penetration can be identified. Here we demonstrate that EGFR-mutant cancers, including a highly lethal form of brain cancer glioblastoma (GBM), are remarkably dependent on cholesterol for survival, rendering them sensitive to Liver X receptor (LXR) agonist-dependent cell death. We show that LXR-623, a clinically viable, highly brain-penetrant LXRα-partial/LXRβ-full agonist selectively kills GBM cells in an LXRβ- and cholesterol-dependent fashion, causing massive tumor regression and prolonged survival in mouse models. Thus, a metabolic co-dependency provides a pharmacological means to kill growth factor-activated cancers in the CNS.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE78703 | GEO | 2017/09/08
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA313262
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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