Abstract 522: TP53mutations promote death of breast cancer cells following Kif11 inhibition
Authors: Lanier Amanda L. , Tahaney William , Qian Jing , Moyer Cassandra , Ma Yanxia , Arun Banu , Mazumdar Abhijit , Brown Powel H. 
Published: March 2024

Background: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) comprises 15-20% of breast cancer diagnoses. These aggressive breast cancers are characterized by their lack of expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and progesterone receptor (PR), resulting in few targeted therapy options for TNBC patients. While 85-90% of TNBCs contain mutations in TP53, mutant p53 is challenging to target directly. Instead, we aim to identify other survival pathways critical for the growth and survival of TP53 mutant cells. Through a combined in vitro and in silico drug screen, we identified the Kif11 inhibitor SB-743921 as more effective in TP53 mutant compared to wild-type breast cancer cells.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that Kif11 inhibition causes TP53 mutant cells to undergo cell death due to failure of activation of p53-mediated cell cycle checkpoints.

Methods: Clinical data from the TCGA and METABRIC cohorts was obtained from cBioPortal. Expression and survival analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism. Cell growth assays were conducted by seeding cells, treating under designated conditions, then staining with Hoechst 33342 for cell counting on the ImageXpress Pico. Cell death was determined by staining with Annexin V and PI or DAPI Staining followed by flow cytometry analysis. Cell cycle analysis was conducted following synchronization with Lovastatin and Mevalonate release followed by imaging analysis of cell lines expressing the Fast FUCCI reporter or PI staining and flow cytometry analysis. Immunofluorescence imaging was conducted by staining with anti-alpha-tubulin-AlexaFluor488 and DAPI and imaging on the Nikon TI2 or ImageXPress PICO. In vitro expression experiments were carried out through qPCR and western blotting.

Results: KIF11 is most highly expressed in TP53 mutant and triple-negative tumors and high expression of KIF11 is associated with poorer overall survival. In breast cancer cell lines, Kif11 inhibition leads to a cell cycle block in both TP53 mutant and wild-type cells, but TP53 mutant cells then die following this cell cycle block. Furthermore, Kif11 inhibition causes mitotic dysfunction, including monopolar spindle formation and multinucleated cells in TP53 mutants. Introduction of a TP53 mutation into TP53 wild-type cells also induces cell death following Kif11 inhibition.

Conclusions: KIF11 is highly expressed in aggressive breast cancers and is associated with poorer prognosis. Using the small molecule inhibitor SB-74321 that has been tested in phase I/II clinical trials with favorable tolerability, we found that Kif11 inhibition results in mitotic dysfunction and death of TP53 mutant breast cancer cells due to mitotic catastrophe. These results suggest that Kif11 is a promising target for the treatment of TP53 mutant TNBCs.

Citation Format: Amanda L. Lanier, William Tahaney, Jing Qian, Cassandra Moyer, Yanxia Ma, Banu Arun, Abhijit Mazumdar, Powel H. Brown. TP53mutations promote death of breast cancer cells following Kif11 inhibition [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 522.