Abstract 5649: Bromodomain inhibition reduces CDK6 expression and reverses CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance in ER+ breast cancer
Authors: Liu Renyan , Pantelidou Constantia , Jadhav Heta , Shapiro Geoffrey 
Published: June 2022

Introduction: CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) resistance is a pressing clinical problem for patients with ER+ breast cancer who are treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with hormonal therapy. Our previous work identified CDK6 overexpression as a critical determinant of acquired resistance to CDK4/6i. Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) family proteins (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, and BRDT) play important roles in regulating the expression of oncogenes in multiple cancer types. BET inhibitors (BETi), such as JQ1, have been extensively studied for the treatment of cancers. It has been shown that BRD4 is recruited to the CDK6 gene promoter and that BET inhibition reduces CDK6 mRNA and protein expression. In this study, we investigated the potential of BET inhibition to reverse CDK4/6i resistance of ER+ breast cancer.

Methods: By long-term exposure to increasing concentrations of a CDK4/6i, we developed MCF7 and T47D ER+ breast cancer cell lines with acquired resistance to several FDA-approved CDK4/6 inhibitors demonstrating marked CDK6 overexpression. Cell viability and survival assays were performed to assess the in vitro efficacy of BETi. Flow cytometry was performed to evaluate cell cycle alterations as well as cell death. Gene expression was analyzed by Western blotting and qPCR to examine cell cycle-related molecular changes. Markers of apoptosis were also evaluated by Western blotting. CDK4/6i-resistant ER+ tumors were established in immunodeficient mouse models to explore the in vivo efficacy of BETi.

Results: Our data showed that JQ1 significantly reduced cell viability and survival of CDK4/6i-resistant ER+ breast cancer cells in the presence of palbociclib, a commonly used CDK4/6i for the treatment of metastatic ER+ HER2- breast cancer. JQ1 also induced marked G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CDK4/6 inhibitor-resistant MCF7 and T47D cell lines in a time and dose-dependent manner. Analyses of key molecular mediators of cell cycle progression identified CDK6 and cyclin D1 as the major targets of JQ1 in CDK4/6i-resistant cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that JQ1 suppressed CDK6 expression at the mRNA level. Importantly, we determined that growth suppression and killing of CDK4/6i-resistant cells by BETi were largely the consequence of CDK6 downregulation by BET inhibition. We have also established CDK4/6i-resistant xenografts successfully from MCF7 cells to test the in vivo efficacy of BETi in reversing CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that BET inhibition has potent efficacy in reversing acquired CDK4/6i resistance of ER+ breast cancer, mainly through its inhibitory regulation of CDK6. BET inhibitors are therefore promising candidate therapeutic agents for the treatment of CDK4/6i-resistant ER+ breast cancer.

Citation Format: Renyan Liu, Constantia Pantelidou, Heta Jadhav, Geoffrey Shapiro. Bromodomain inhibition reduces CDK6 expression and reverses CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance in ER+ breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5649.