Liver Endothelium Promotes HER3-Mediated Cell Survival in Colorectal Cancer with Wild-Type and Mutant KRAS
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: We previously identified that human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3, also known as ERBB3) is a key mediator in liver endothelial cell (EC) promoting colorectal cancer growth and chemoresistance, and suggested HER3-targeted therapy as a strategy for treating patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in the liver. Meanwhile, KRAS mutations occur in 40%-50% of metastatic colorectal cancer and render colorectal cancer resistant to therapies targeting the other HER family protein epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). It is necessary to elucidate the roles of KRAS mutation status in HER3-mediated cell survival and colorectal cancer response to HER3 inhibition. In the present study, we used primary ECs isolated from non-neoplastic liver tissues to recapitulate the liver EC microenvironment. We demonstrated that liver EC-secreted factors activated colorectal cancer-associated HER3, and increased colorectal cancer cell survival in vitro and promoted colorectal cancer patient-derived xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, we determined that blocking HER3, either by siRNA knockdown or the humanized antibody seribantumab, blocked EC-induced colorectal cancer survival in vitro in both KRAS wild-type and mutant colorectal cancer cells, and the HER3 antibody seribantumab significantly decreased colorectal cancer tumor growth and sensitized tumors to chemotherapy in an orthotopic xenograft model with colorectal cancer tumors developed in the liver. In summary, our findings demonstrated that blocking HER3 had significant effects on attenuating liver EC-induced colorectal cancer cell survival independent of the KRAS mutation status. IMPLICATIONS: This body of work highlighted a potential strategy of using HER3 antibodies in combination with standard chemotherapy agents for treating patients with either KRAS wild-type or KRAS mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.
Source: Molecular Cancer Research
Authors: Moeez Rathore, Wei Zhang, Michel'le Wright, Rajat Bhattacharya, Fan Fan, Ali Vaziri-Gohar, Jordan Winter, Zhenghe Wang, Sanford D. Markowitz, Joseph Willis, Lee M. Ellis, Rui Wang
Language: English
Topic: HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: G334576535, G4387686951, Paracrine Role of Endothelial Cells in HER3-Mediated Colon Cancer Cell Survival, Paracrine Role of Endothelial Cells in HER3-Mediated Colon Cancer Cell Survival, G7761418987, Targeting 15-Prostaglandin Dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) in Cancer Risk, Prevention, and Treatment, Case GI SPORE, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant, Cancer Center Support Grant, Mechanisms of PIK3CA helical domain mutations driving colorectal tumorigenesis, Role of Erbb3 kinase activity in colorectal tumorigenesis., Mechanisms of metabolic reprogramming by PIK3CA oncogenic mutations
OpenAlex ID: W4220690591