Abstract 3235: The role of DDR2 in chemoresistant ovarian cancer
Authors: Oplt Alyssa , Stock Elizabeth , Noia Hollie , Cannon Patrick , Longmore Gregory , Fuh Katherine C. 
Published: June 2022

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. As many as 80% of ovarian cancer patients experience recurrent disease and the majority of recurrences become resistant to treatment. Once patients no longer respond to chemotherapy, there are minimal treatment options and they succumb to their disease. Therefore, there is a need to create new targeted therapies to overcome chemoresistance in ovarian cancer and improve patient survival. We have assembled a tumor microarray from 164 patient tumors to characterize the changes in protein expression that lead to resistance in clinical samples. We have found using IHC staining, that patients with high tyrosine kinase receptor discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) protein expression (&gt;70%) have significantly shorter overall survival times regardless of stage at diagnosis (HR= 2.108, p=0.002) as well as reduced platinum free interval (p=0.046). Additionally, platinum refractory tumors have higher DDR2 protein expression than platinum sensitive tumors (p=0.036). To further understand the mechanisms of chemoresistance, we created a novel, chemoresistant, syngeneic, mouse ovarian cancer cell line derived from ID8 trp53-/-BRCA2-/- GFP LUC cells from Walton et. al 2016, and have designated them CHRP5. DDR2 expression assessed via western blot increased significantly in the chemoresistance cells, suggesting that DDR2 is associated with chemoresistance. We knocked down DDR2 using a stable shRNA transfection in CHRP5 and used MTS survival assays to determine if decreased DDR2 expression increases sensitivity to chemotherapy. CHRP5 shDDR2 cells were significantly more sensitive to carboplatin than CHRP5 shControl cells (CHRP5 shControl IC50=213.6uM, CHRP5 shDDR2 IC50=128.5uM, p&lt;0.000001), suggesting that DDR2 is involved in regulating chemoresistance in these cells. Additionally, we have submitted matched chemoresistant and chemosensitive mouse tumor samples for RNA-sequencing. We will use this data to determine which chemoresistant mechanisms are utilized, and if DDR2 is involved in regulating those mechanisms. In the future, we plan to rescue DDR2 in the knockdown cells to confirm that off target effects are not influencing the change in sensitivity. We also have access to a specific, allosteric inhibitor of DDR2 and plan to use this drug to determine if inhibiting DDR2 pharmacologically can overcome chemoresistance and reduce tumor burden in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, DDR2 is more highly expressed in chemoresistant patients, and higher DDR2 expression correlates with reduced survival and platinum free interval. Additionally, knocking down DDR2 in chemoresistant cells increases sensitivity to chemotherapy. Therefore, DDR2 is a potential new target for ovarian cancer therapy and may be targeted to overcome chemoresistant disease and extend patient survival.

Citation Format: Alyssa Oplt, Elizabeth Stock, Hollie Noia, Patrick Cannon, Gregory Longmore, Katherine C. Fuh. The role of DDR2 in chemoresistant ovarian 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 3235.