Abstract 2690: In vivo CRISPR screen identifies SOAT1 as a chemotherapy chemosensitizing target for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Authors: Li Long Shan , Huffman Kenneth , Li Huiyu , Peyton Michael , Park Hyunsil , Avila Kimberley , Girard Luc , Augustine Mathew , Mendell Joshua T. , Minna John D. 
Published: April 2023

Purpose: To identify druggable gene targets that would sensitize NSCLCs to available chemotherapy agents.

Experimental Procedures: We developed a CRISPR-Cas9 lentivirus library of 12,474 sgRNAs targeting 660 FDA proved ‘druggable’ putative proteins (18 guides/gene) and investigated their potential to chemosensitize (“drop out” in the presence of taxane) the NSCLC lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) line NCI-H2009 (TP53 and KRAS mutant) in parallel studies in vitro (tissue culture) & in vivo (xenografts). Key elements of our experiments were: the use low doses of paclitaxel (IC10 values for in vitro and in vivo doses that barely affected tumor growth) compared to control treatment; treatment schedules in vitro and in vivo that mirrored those used in patients; multiple biologic replicates for each transfection and drug selection; and large representation (2,000 cells/sgRNA) for each guide. At the end time point (1 month) we harvested multiple replicates of the taxane and control treatments and sequenced each to identify each guide that “remained” or “dropped out.”

Data Summary: We were looking for guides that selectively dropped out in the setting of low dose taxane exposure comparing taxane to control treatment and in vitro to in vivo results. Of importance, we found little overlap between guides that dropped out during taxane exposure in tissue culture vs those that dropped out in xenografts. From the top 10 gene “sensitizers” that selectively dropped out only with taxane treatment and selectively dropped out in xenografts compared to 2D mass tissue culture, we focused on SOAT1 (Sterol O-Acyltransferase 1). SOAT1 is a key enzyme for lipid metabolism which mediates conversion of intracellular free cholesterol to cholesteryl esters which are then stored as lipid droplets. SOAT1 is a potential cancer therapeutic target with a clinically available inhibitor, avasimibe. H2009 cells with SOAT1 hemizygously removed (CRISPR) grew well in vitro and in vivo in the absence of chemotherapy treatment, but were dramatically sensitized to taxanes compared to parental H2009 cells. While avasimibe treatment, at concentrations achievable in patients, sensitized NSCLC to taxanes, this sensitization was not as dramatic as hemizygous removal by CRISPR. Of equal importance, SOAT1 H2009 hemizygous knockout (KO) cells were also dramatically sensitized to etoposide, pemetrexed, and gemcitabine, other chemotherapy agents used in NSCLC treatment. Mechanistically, RNAseq analysis identified G2/M cell cycle related gene sets as enriched in the H2009 SOAT1 KO xenografts compared to SOAT1 wildtype xenografts with paclitaxel treatment.

Conclusions: Our results using CRISPR screening in vivo, identified SOAT1 as a critical therapeutic chemosensitizing target requiring only 50% inhibition of activity for sensitizing NSCLC to several chemotherapy agents routinely used in the clinic.

Citation Format: Long Shan Li, Kenneth Huffman, Huiyu Li, Michael Peyton, Hyunsil Park, Kimberley Avila, Luc Girard, Mathew Augustine, Joshua T. Mendell, John D. Minna. In vivo CRISPR screen identifies SOAT1 as a chemotherapy chemosensitizing target for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 2690.