Abstract 3318: A critical role for c-Jun N-terminal kinase in autophagy and cell survival of breast cancer cells
Authors: Rohit Munagala, Carol Joseph, Annie Liu, Kebin Liu, Muthusamy Thangaraju, Patricia V. Schoenlein
Journal: Cancer Research (2017)

Antiestrogen resistance is the major impediment to the eradication of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. Approximately 30% of ER+ breast tumors initially responsive to antiestrogen therapy will acquire resistance. One approach to reducing the occurrence of acquired antiestrogen resistance is to identify and target key signaling nodes that specifically attenuate the ability of antiestrogens to kill cancer cells. Toward this goal, we identified MEK/MAPK1/2 as a key molecular target based on the general inability of antiestrogens to effectively block MEK1/MAPK1/2-mediated phosphorylation of BimEL in breast cancer cells. BimEL is a pro-apoptotic member of the BH3 family of proteins that is inactivated (degraded by the proteasome) when phosphorylated by MAPK1/2. The combination of an antiestrogen and MEK1 inhibitor robustly-induced BimEL-dependent breast cancer cell apoptosis (Periyasamy-Thandavan et al., 2012). However, a subpopulation of breast cancer cells survive this combined treatment via an autophagy-dependent mechanism. Based on the key role of JNK in regulating autophagy in cancer cells via BimEL phosphorylation, we hypothesized that JNK was a key effector of autophagy in breast cancer cells surviving antiestrogen treatment when used as a single agent or in combination with a MEK inhibitor. To test this hypothesis, we utilized the selective JNK inhibitor SP600125 as a single agent or in combination with estradiol (E2), 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT), and/or U0126 (a selective MEK1 inhibitor). Treatments were conducted with the antiestrogen-sensitive cell lines MCF-7 and T-47D and the antiestrogen resistant cell line TR5, previously derived in our laboratory by a step-wise 4-OHT selection. Effects on cell death (determination of apoptosis) and autophagy (determination of autophagy levels and flux) were evaluated for the various hormonal treatments conducted in the presence or absence of JNK inhibition. These studies showed that: (1) targeting JNK in antiestrogen sensitive breast cancer cells induces apoptosis with caspase-dependent cleavage of PARP as a surrogate marker of apoptosis; (2) JNK activity is elevated in antiestrogen resistant TR5 cells and JNK inhibition induces TR5 cell death; and (3) antiestrogen sensitive and resistant breast cancer cells dying as a result of JNK inhibition can show extensive cytosolic vacuolization with the autophagy protein LC3 (ATG8) localized to the aberrant vacuoles. Overall, our results support the conclusion that JNK plays a key autophagy-dependent survival role in breast cancer cells. Ongoing studies aim to identify the specific JNK protein(s) that disrupt autophagy and enhance death of breast cancer cells toward the goal of identifying specific molecular targets to block autophagy in breast cancer cells.  Citation Format: Rohit Munagala, Carol Joseph, Annie Liu, Kebin Liu, Muthusamy Thangaraju, Patricia V. Schoenlein. A critical role for c-Jun N-terminal kinase in autophagy and cell survival of breast cancer cells [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 3318. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3318