Abstract 3016: Identification of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 as novel epigenetic vulnerability in KRAS/p53 mutant PDAC primary patient models
Authors: Giuliani Virginia , Vangamudi Bhavatarini , Suzuki Erika , Miller Meredith , Liu Chiu-Yi , Carugo Alessandro , Bristow Christopher , Gao Guang , Han Jing , Sun Yuting , Feng Ningping , Chang Edward , Marszalek Joseph , Kovacs Jeffrey , Francesco Maria Emilia Di , Toniatti Carlo , Heffernan Timothy , Jones Philip , Draetta Giulio 
Published: July 2017

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a rapidly progressing disease associated with less than 10% 5-year survival rate. Various treatment regimens failed to improve survival of PDAC patients, thus a critical need exists to identify druggable targets essential for tumor maintenance. We developed a powerful in vivo platform that enables the identification of new molecular drivers in the PDAC context where activating mutation of KRAS gene and loss of p53 dominate the genetic landscape. Through an in vivo loss of function screen performed in KRAS/p53 mutant PDAC primary patient models, we identify protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) as top scoring hit. This novel dependency in PDAC was subsequently validated in multiple PDAC models using both shRNA mediated as well as CRISPR base genetic inhibition and we demonstrated that PRMT1 knockdown induces a significant growth inhibition in vitro. Methylation of arginine 3 on histone H4 (H4R3me2a) as well as global arginine methylation was also evaluated and showed a dramatic reduction upon PRMT1 knockdown, correlating observed phenotype with target engagement. To further confirm a role for PRMT1 in tumor maintenance, we developed inducible PRMT1 knockdown in a primary patient model and showed a dramatic tumor growth inhibition (TGI) in vivo upon PRMT1 knockdown. PRMT1 is the primary enzyme responsible for arginine asymmetric demethylation, however other members of the Type I family are also involved in this process and we evaluated the role of protein arginine methyltransferase 4 (PRMT4) and 6 (PRMT6) in our workhorse model. Surprisingly, no significant phenotypic response was observed upon genetic inhibition of PRMT4 or PRMT6 suggesting no redundancy between different PRMT type I and a unique dependency on PRMT1. To strengthen and complement the genetic validation, we leveraged a PRMT Type I inhibitor and confirmed in vitro results as well as in vivo efficacy at tolerated doses (xenograft vs allograft). Key models have been prioritized in order to inform on PRMT1 dependency and to refine responder population. Our research has identified and validated for the first time an arginine methyltransferase as a novel genetic vulnerability in PDAC and strongly suggest PRMT1 as a new therapeutic opportunity in PDAC cancers.

Citation Format: Virginia Giuliani, Bhavatarini Vangamudi, Erika Suzuki, Meredith Miller, Chiu-Yi Liu, Alessandro Carugo, Christopher Bristow, Guang Gao, Jing Han, Yuting Sun, Ningping Feng, Edward Chang, Joseph Marszalek, Jeffrey Kovacs, Maria Emilia Di Francesco, Carlo Toniatti, Timothy Heffernan, Philip Jones, Giulio Draetta. Identification of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 as novel epigenetic vulnerability in KRAS/p53 mutant PDAC primary patient models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3016. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3016