The FLT3 internal tandem duplication mutation is a secondary target of the aurora B kinase inhibitor AZD1152-HQPA in acute myelogenous leukemia cells.
Aurora kinases play an essential role in orchestrating chromosome alignment, segregation, and cytokinesis during mitotic progression and both aurora-A and B are frequently overexpressed in a variety of human malignancies. In this study, we report the effects of AZD1152-HQPA, a highly selective inhibitor of aurora-B kinase, in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary samples. We show that AZD1152-HQPA inhibits the phosphorylation of Histone H3 (pHH3) on serine 10 resulting in polyploid cells, apoptosis, and loss of viability in a panel of AML cell lines. We also show that AZD1152-HQPA sensitivity in our cell lines is irrespective of p53 status and the FLT3-ITD-expressing MOLM-13 and MV4-11 cell lines are particularly sensitive to AZD1152-HQPA. Internal tandem duplications (ITD) within the FLT3 tyrosine kinase receptor are found in approximately 25% of AML patients and are associated with a poor prognosis. Here, we report that AZD1152-HQPA directly targets phosphorylated FLT3 along with inhibiting its downstream target phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) in the FLT3-ITD cell lines. We show pHH3 expression in primary AML blasts and its inhibition by AZD1152-HQPA at low doses in all of our primary samples tested. AZD1152-HQPA inhibits the clonogenic potential of primary AML samples, with FLT3-ITD samples being the most sensitive (P = 0.029). FLT3-ITD primary samples are also more sensitive to pHH3 inhibition (P = 0.022) and are particularly sensitive to pSTAT5 downregulation after treatment with AZD1152-HQPA compared with FLT3 wild-type samples (P = 0.007). We conclude that mutant FLT3 is a secondary target of AZD1152-HQPA and that FLT3-ITD primary samples are particularly sensitive to the drug.
Department of Academic Haematology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom. mrxmg3@nottingham.ac.uk
Martin
M
Grundy
Claire
C
Seedhouse
Shilli
S
Shang
Jaineeta
J
Richardson
Nigel
N
Russell
Monica
M
Pallis
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D064107:Aurora Kinase B; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic / Q000187:drug effects; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D020298:U937 Cells; D051941:fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006657:Histones; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011799:Quinazolines; C531556:AZD 1152-HQPA; C497970:FLT3 protein, human; D051941:fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3; C576921:AURKB protein, human; D064107:Aurora Kinase B; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases