Abstract 6675: Dissecting the relationship between mucin 5AC and the lung/gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of K-ras mutant lung cancer
Authors: Grimaldo Maria T. , Clowers Michael J. , Krishna Avantika , Larsen Katherine E. , Karimi Nastaran , Rezai Yasmina H. , Gaitonde Arnav , Khalaj Farbod , Liu Haoyue , McAllister Florencia , Moghaddam Seyed Javad 
Published: March 2024

Non-small cell lung cancer, including its most common subtype, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), is one of the most prevalent and lethal forms of cancer worldwide. This is largely due to patients having progressed to an advanced stage of disease by the time of diagnosis. Thus, better understanding the pathogenesis of early LUAD is paramount for the identification of key targets and development of preventive and therapeutic strategies for clinical management of the disease. KRAS mutations are the most common oncogenic driver alteration in human LUAD. Previously, we have found that KRAS mutant LUAD patients whose tumors harbor high expression of Mucin 5 AC (MUC5AC), a main airway secretory mucin, have significantly lower survival and poor prognosis. Mucins are membrane-bound and secreted hydrophilic proteins essential in clearance of allergens, pathogens, and debris in the lung airway. However, overproduction of mucins, such as MUC5AC, plays roles in the pathogenesis of airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Given the known effect of mucin polymers on bacterial growth and the immune microenvironment in the context of other airway inflammatory diseases, in this study, our objective is to better understand the MUC5AC-to-microbiome relationship using a lung epithelial specific mouse model of KRAS-mutant LUAD (CC-LR) and test the combinatorial effects of genetic deletion of MUC5AC (CC-LR/Muc5ac−/−) and the pan-microbiome depletion on tumor progression, the lung immune contexture, and microbiome (lung and gut). Thus far, we found that genetic deletion of MUC5AC or pan-microbiome depletion significantly decreases the tumor burden (66% vs 50%, respectively). Additionally, both groups show to have a significantly decreased percentage of tumor-specific Ki67+ cells, a cell proliferation marker, and ERG+ cells, an angiogenesis marker, in comparison to the CC-LR controls. The combination of the lack of MUC5AC with pan-microbiome depletion has also shown to reduce tumor development that needs further investigation. These findings highlight the need to better understand the mechanistic interaction between mucins and the lung/gut microbiome in the context of KRAS-mutant lung cancer which we are currently exploring. It also suggests that their relationship could be a key target for modulation, potentially leading to the development of a minimally invasive alternative preventive and/or treatment modality against KRAS-mutant LUAD.

Citation Format: Maria T. Grimaldo, Michael J. Clowers, Avantika Krishna, Katherine E. Larsen, Nastaran Karimi, Yasmina H. Rezai, Arnav Gaitonde, Farbod Khalaj, Haoyue Liu, Florencia McAllister, Seyed Javad Moghaddam. Dissecting the relationship between mucin 5AC and the lung/gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of K-ras mutant lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6675.