Abstract 3197: BKM120 promotes apoptosis and suppresses tumor growth in medulloblastoma by targeting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway
Authors: Zhao Ping , Hall Jacob , Voydanoff Austin , Durston Mary , VanSickle Elizabeth , Nagulapally Abhinav B. , Bond Jeffery , Saulnier Sholler Giselle 
Published: July 2016

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in children with poor survival outcome. New treatment strategies are needed for control of MB. The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) intracellular signaling pathway plays a key role in cellular metabolism, proliferation, survival and angiogenesis. This pathway is often constitutively activated in human tumor cells, providing unique opportunities for anticancer therapeutic intervention. BKM120 (Buparlisib) is an oral pan-class I PI3K inhibitor that targets all 4 isoforms of class I PI3K. BKM120 is currently being clinically evaluated for the treatment of different adult cancers including breast cancer, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. In this study, we screened our MB established and patient primary cell lines by genomic profiling analysis, and validated the targeted therapy both in vitro and in vivo in xenograft mouse model.

Methods: RNA expression profiling analysis was performed with Affymetrix GeneChip U133 Plus 2.0 genome wide expression cDNA microarray. Analysis was done using R/Bioconductor packages and Partek Genomics Suite. Eleven MB cell lines were treated with increasing concentrations (0-4 μM) of BKM120 for 48 hours. CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability Assay was used to determine cell viability. IC50 values were calculated with a four-parameter variable-slope dose response curve using GraphPad Prism v.5 software. IncuCyte ZOOM Live-Cell Imaging system was used for kinetic monitoring of cytotoxicity of BKM120 and apoptosis in MB cells. Western blot analysis was used to measure phospho-Akt, phospho-mTOR, and cleaved caspase 3 protein levels. ATP level per cell was measured using CyQuant fluorescent DNA assay combined with CellTiter-Glo luminescent cell viability assay. Xenograft study was performed with DAOY cells implanted in the flank of nude mice and treated with vehicle, BKM120 at 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg via oral gavage daily.

Results: BKM120 exhibited cytotoxicity in MB cells in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting activation of downstream signaling molecules Akt and mTOR, and activating apoptotic pathways and inducing cell death in the eleven cell lines tested. IC50s of BKM120 in the MB cell lines ranged from 0.456 to 2.9 μM determined by cell viability assay. Furthermore, BKM120 decreased cellular glycolytic metabolic activity in MB cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. In MB xenograft mouse study, BKM120 significantly suppressed tumor growth and prolonged mouse survival at 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg.

Conclusion: This study indicates that BKM120 promotes apoptosis and suppresses medulloblastoma tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. Additional investigation of BKM120

for the treatment of pediatric medulloblastoma is warranted.

Citation Format: Ping Zhao, Jacob Hall, Austin Voydanoff, Mary Durston, Elizabeth VanSickle, Abhinav B. Nagulapally, Jeffery Bond, Giselle Saulnier Sholler. BKM120 promotes apoptosis and suppresses tumor growth in medulloblastoma by targeting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3197.