TY - JOUR
T1 - Axitinib effectively inhibits BCR-ABL1(T315I) with a distinct binding conformation
AU - Pemovska, Tea
AU - Johnson, Eric
AU - Kontro, Mika
AU - Repasky, Gretchen A
AU - Chen, Jeffrey
AU - Wells, Peter
AU - Cronin, Ciarán N
AU - McTigue, Michele
AU - Kallioniemi, Olli
AU - Porkka, Kimmo
AU - Murray, Brion W
AU - Wennerberg, Krister
PY - 2015/3/5
Y1 - 2015/3/5
N2 - The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene is a driver oncogene in chronic myeloid leukaemia and 30-50% of cases of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Introduction of ABL1 kinase inhibitors (for example, imatinib) has markedly improved patient survival, but acquired drug resistance remains a challenge. Point mutations in the ABL1 kinase domain weaken inhibitor binding and represent the most common clinical resistance mechanism. The BCR-ABL1 kinase domain gatekeeper mutation Thr315Ile (T315I) confers resistance to all approved ABL1 inhibitors except ponatinib, which has toxicity limitations. Here we combine comprehensive drug sensitivity and resistance profiling of patient cells ex vivo with structural analysis to establish the VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib as a selective and effective inhibitor for T315I-mutant BCR-ABL1-driven leukaemia. Axitinib potently inhibited BCR-ABL1(T315I), at both biochemical and cellular levels, by binding to the active form of ABL1(T315I) in a mutation-selective binding mode. These findings suggest that the T315I mutation shifts the conformational equilibrium of the kinase in favour of an active (DFG-in) A-loop conformation, which has more optimal binding interactions with axitinib. Treatment of a T315I chronic myeloid leukaemia patient with axitinib resulted in a rapid reduction of T315I-positive cells from bone marrow. Taken together, our findings demonstrate an unexpected opportunity to repurpose axitinib, an anti-angiogenic drug approved for renal cancer, as an inhibitor for ABL1 gatekeeper mutant drug-resistant leukaemia patients. This study shows that wild-type proteins do not always sample the conformations available to disease-relevant mutant proteins and that comprehensive drug testing of patient-derived cells can identify unpredictable, clinically significant drug-repositioning opportunities.
AB - The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene is a driver oncogene in chronic myeloid leukaemia and 30-50% of cases of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Introduction of ABL1 kinase inhibitors (for example, imatinib) has markedly improved patient survival, but acquired drug resistance remains a challenge. Point mutations in the ABL1 kinase domain weaken inhibitor binding and represent the most common clinical resistance mechanism. The BCR-ABL1 kinase domain gatekeeper mutation Thr315Ile (T315I) confers resistance to all approved ABL1 inhibitors except ponatinib, which has toxicity limitations. Here we combine comprehensive drug sensitivity and resistance profiling of patient cells ex vivo with structural analysis to establish the VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib as a selective and effective inhibitor for T315I-mutant BCR-ABL1-driven leukaemia. Axitinib potently inhibited BCR-ABL1(T315I), at both biochemical and cellular levels, by binding to the active form of ABL1(T315I) in a mutation-selective binding mode. These findings suggest that the T315I mutation shifts the conformational equilibrium of the kinase in favour of an active (DFG-in) A-loop conformation, which has more optimal binding interactions with axitinib. Treatment of a T315I chronic myeloid leukaemia patient with axitinib resulted in a rapid reduction of T315I-positive cells from bone marrow. Taken together, our findings demonstrate an unexpected opportunity to repurpose axitinib, an anti-angiogenic drug approved for renal cancer, as an inhibitor for ABL1 gatekeeper mutant drug-resistant leukaemia patients. This study shows that wild-type proteins do not always sample the conformations available to disease-relevant mutant proteins and that comprehensive drug testing of patient-derived cells can identify unpredictable, clinically significant drug-repositioning opportunities.
KW - Angiogenesis Inhibitors/chemistry
KW - Cell Line
KW - Cell Proliferation/drug effects
KW - Crystallization
KW - Crystallography, X-Ray
KW - Drug Repositioning
KW - Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/genetics
KW - Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
KW - Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/antagonists & inhibitors
KW - Humans
KW - Imidazoles/chemistry
KW - Indazoles/chemistry
KW - Kidney Neoplasms/drug therapy
KW - Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/drug therapy
KW - Models, Molecular
KW - Molecular Conformation
KW - Phosphorylation/drug effects
KW - Protein Binding
KW - Protein Kinase Inhibitors/chemistry
KW - Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl/antagonists & inhibitors
KW - Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2/antagonists & inhibitors
U2 - 10.1038/nature14119
DO - 10.1038/nature14119
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25686603
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 519
SP - 102
EP - 105
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
IS - 7541
ER -