MicroRNAs in melanoma development and resistance to target therapy

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Abstract

microRNAs constitute a complex class of pleiotropic post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression involved in the control of several physiologic and pathologic processes. Their mechanism of action is primarily based on the imperfect matching of a seed region located at the 5′ end of a 21-23 nt sequence with a partially complementary sequence located in the 3′ untranslated region of target mRNAs. This leads to inhibition of mRNA translation and eventually to its degradation. Individual miRNAs are capable of binding to several mRNAs and several miRNAs are capable of influencing the function of the same mRNAs. In recent years networks of miRNAs are emerging as capable of controlling key signaling pathways responsible for the growth and propagation of cancer cells. Furthermore several examples have been provided which highlight the involvement of miRNAs in the development of resistance to targeted drug therapies. In this review we provide an updated overview of the role of miRNAs in the development of melanoma and the identification of the main downstream pathways controlled by these miRNAs. Furthermore we discuss a group of miRNAs capable to influence through their respective up- or down-modulation the development of resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors.

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Most cited references 90

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Melanomas acquire resistance to B-RAF(V600E) inhibition by RTK or N-RAS upregulation.

Ramin Nazarian, Hubing Shi, Qi Wang … (2010)

Activating B-RAF(V600E) (also known as BRAF) kinase mutations occur in ∼7% of human malignancies and ∼60% of melanomas. Early clinical experience with a novel class I RAF-selective inhibitor, PLX4032, demonstrated an unprecedented 80% anti-tumour response rate among patients with B-RAF(V600E)-positive melanomas, but acquired drug resistance frequently develops after initial responses. Hypotheses for mechanisms of acquired resistance to B-RAF inhibition include secondary mutations in B-RAF(V600E), MAPK reactivation, and activation of alternative survival pathways. Here we show that acquired resistance to PLX4032 develops by mutually exclusive PDGFRβ (also known as PDGFRB) upregulation or N-RAS (also known as NRAS) mutations but not through secondary mutations in B-RAF(V600E). We used PLX4032-resistant sub-lines artificially derived from B-RAF(V600E)-positive melanoma cell lines and validated key findings in PLX4032-resistant tumours and tumour-matched, short-term cultures from clinical trial patients. Induction of PDGFRβ RNA, protein and tyrosine phosphorylation emerged as a dominant feature of acquired PLX4032 resistance in a subset of melanoma sub-lines, patient-derived biopsies and short-term cultures. PDGFRβ-upregulated tumour cells have low activated RAS levels and, when treated with PLX4032, do not reactivate the MAPK pathway significantly. In another subset, high levels of activated N-RAS resulting from mutations lead to significant MAPK pathway reactivation upon PLX4032 treatment. Knockdown of PDGFRβ or N-RAS reduced growth of the respective PLX4032-resistant subsets. Overexpression of PDGFRβ or N-RAS(Q61K) conferred PLX4032 resistance to PLX4032-sensitive parental cell lines. Importantly, MAPK reactivation predicts MEK inhibitor sensitivity. Thus, melanomas escape B-RAF(V600E) targeting not through secondary B-RAF(V600E) mutations but via receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)-mediated activation of alternative survival pathway(s) or activated RAS-mediated reactivation of the MAPK pathway, suggesting additional therapeutic strategies.

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Combined vemurafenib and cobimetinib in BRAF-mutated melanoma.

James Larkin, Paolo Ascierto, Brigitte Dréno … (2014)

The combined inhibition of BRAF and MEK is hypothesized to improve clinical outcomes in patients with melanoma by preventing or delaying the onset of resistance observed with BRAF inhibitors alone. This randomized phase 3 study evaluated the combination of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib. We randomly assigned 495 patients with previously untreated unresectable locally advanced or metastatic BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma to receive vemurafenib and cobimetinib (combination group) or vemurafenib and placebo (control group). The primary end point was investigator-assessed progression-free survival. The median progression-free survival was 9.9 months in the combination group and 6.2 months in the control group (hazard ratio for death or disease progression, 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39 to 0.68; P<0.001). The rate of complete or partial response in the combination group was 68%, as compared with 45% in the control group (P<0.001), including rates of complete response of 10% in the combination group and 4% in the control group. Progression-free survival as assessed by independent review was similar to investigator-assessed progression-free survival. Interim analyses of overall survival showed 9-month survival rates of 81% (95% CI, 75 to 87) in the combination group and 73% (95% CI, 65 to 80) in the control group. Vemurafenib and cobimetinib was associated with a nonsignificantly higher incidence of adverse events of grade 3 or higher, as compared with vemurafenib and placebo (65% vs. 59%), and there was no significant difference in the rate of study-drug discontinuation. The number of secondary cutaneous cancers decreased with the combination therapy. The addition of cobimetinib to vemurafenib was associated with a significant improvement in progression-free survival among patients with BRAF V600-mutated metastatic melanoma, at the cost of some increase in toxicity. (Funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech; coBRIM ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01689519.).

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miR-221&222 regulate TRAIL resistance and enhance tumorigenicity through PTEN and TIMP3 downregulation.

Michela Garofalo, Gianpiero Di Leva, Giulia Romano … (2009)

Lung and liver cancers are among the most deadly types of cancer. Despite improvements in treatment over the past few decades, patient survival remains poor, underlining the need for development of targeted therapies. MicroRNAs represent a class of small RNAs frequently deregulated in human malignancies. We now report that miR-221&222 are overexpressed in aggressive non-small cell lung cancer and hepatocarcinoma cells, as compared with less invasive and/or normal lung and liver cells. We show that miR-221&222, by targeting PTEN and TIMP3 tumor suppressors, induce TRAIL resistance and enhance cellular migration through the activation of the AKT pathway and metallopeptidases. Finally, we demonstrate that the MET oncogene is involved in miR-221&222 activation through the c-Jun transcription factor.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Oncotarget

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Oncotarget

Journal ID (publisher-id): Oncotarget

Journal ID (publisher-id): ImpactJ

Title: Oncotarget

Publisher: Impact Journals LLC

ISSN (Electronic): 1949-2553

Publication date Collection: 28 March 2017

Publication date (Electronic): 19 January 2017

Volume: 8

Issue: 13

Pages: 22262-22278

Affiliations

¹ Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori “Fondazione G. Pascale”, Napoli, Italia

² CROM, Istituto Nazionale Tumori “Fondazione G. Pascale”-IRCCS, Napoli, Italia

³ Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università degli Studi di Catanzaro “Magna Graecia”, Catanzaro, Italia

⁴ Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA

⁵ Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italia

⁶ IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori “Regina Elena”, Roma, Italy

Author notes

Correspondence to: Gennaro Ciliberto, gennaro.ciliberto@ 123456ifo.gov.it

Article

Publisher ID: 14763

DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.14763

PMC ID: 5400662

PubMed ID: 28118616

SO-VID: 426988d1-228b-4e88-87c6-6c14ba60f0a8

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

MicroRNAs in melanoma development and resistance to target therapy

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Karger: Dermatology

Most cited references 90

Melanomas acquire resistance to B-RAF(V600E) inhibition by RTK or N-RAS upregulation.

Combined vemurafenib and cobimetinib in BRAF-mutated melanoma.

miR-221&222 regulate TRAIL resistance and enhance tumorigenicity through PTEN and TIMP3 downregulation.

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